The 7 deadly competitions
by SpectrumRay16
Summary: The kingdom of Liones has organized a massive festival where an event would take place every day, for the next week. The seven deadly sins were assigned to establish what types of contests would take place each day. The victor will be handsomely rewarded with a direct favor from the king. Who will win and who will you root for? Only one way to find out.
1. The Drink-Off

**The seven deadly competitions:**

Over the course of a week the seven deadly sins each decided upon a competition in their area of expertise which would allow them to showcase their strengths. Meliodas picked drinking, Ban picked cooking, Diane picked arm wrestling, Gowther picked acting, Merlin picked a fight festival and King picked a race, which surprised everybody. The only member who has yet to pick a challenge is the Lion's sin or Pride, Escanor, who doesn't think he is good at anything. Escanor's had to make up his mind the day before his challenge was due and in good sport he was allowed to participate in the events. However, some of the events had to take place during the day, which frightened a lot of people.

* * *

Today is the first day of the seven deadly competitions and all seven sins were pumped. Making the competitions more rewarding the winner of the most challenges would be permitted to ask the king for a favor, big or small and the people who came second and third would be awarded around 1000 and 500 gold pieces, which was an incredibly amount. Considering these were the prizes, a lot of famous holy knights were also competing in the competition namely; Zaratras, Dreyfus, Hendrickson, Dale and Threader. The competition is fierce and there is no exact way of telling who will win, although everyone hopes Escanor does not obliterate the kingdom, nobody wants a repeat of Edinburgh castle.

The first competition would start at 4:00Pm, as this was the perfect time to start drinking. Each of the sins and holy knights were gathering in the square and were drawing a crowd. Guila, Zeal, Gilthunder and Griamore came to cheer on their dads, five of the sins took their place and Merlin went to gather Escanor. She arrived a few minutes before the beginning of the tournament and placed Escanor within a perfect cube which had already been filled with six barrels of beer, more than three times an adult humans limit, and was told to fill his mug to drink. After everyone was seated, the King walked towards a podium to begin the seven deadly competitions, which would obviously be introduced via a speech.

King Bartras: "*hic* Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce the beginning of the seven deadly competitions. We have taken certain measures to ensure that there will be no cheating or danger to the crowd. Each competitor will have their score recorded and, once a single person is left standing, the highest amount of pints wins. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I hope our competitors are all fired up.*hic*" He said, clearly showing he had already had a beer or two.

All the contestants were eager to start as the servers brought their first pint, or in Diane and Escanor's case a barrel, of Bernia Ale. They all grabbed their drink, lifted it in the air and waited for the referee. The King was also the referee, but, today his daughter Margaret had to take over, as her father's tolerance for alcohol was quite low. Seeing her long, luscious hair blow in the wind made the little Gilthunder in the crowd blush. He had always had a crush on her and was still waiting for his moment to confess to her.

Margaret: "Let the games, begin." She said sweetly.

The competitors all began drinking their ale as quickly as possible and they had score boards to help tally how much they had drunk. For there to be no advantage for Diane, her barrels all counted as a single beer. As the minutes went by, both Ban and Meliodas cried out "done" and were on to their second pint. Currently in the lead however, was Escanor who had already downed half a barrel, which was around ten pints. Although this seemed unfair to most competitors they kept going strong. Noticing the King was drunk and required assistance, Slader forfeited the challenge to assist him. Gowther saw no reason for this competition, had a single drink and conceded as well.

Half an hour later, the competitors were beginning to drop and the first sin to fall under the pressure was King, who had drunk 7 pints before passing out. Apparently his tolerance for alcohol was not as high as the other sins, going so far as to state he had already lost before the competition started. A few minutes later he was followed by Dale, who had only been able to drink 8 pints. Diane had the lowest tolerance to alcohol and was only able to drink a total of 4 pints/barrels before collapsing. She lasted longer than King, because he was simply drinking faster, but being 15 years old, in human years, was quite the disadvantage. The other competitors were looking rather decent; Dreyfus had 10, Hendrickson had 9, Zaratras had 10, Meliodas, Ban and Merlin had 12 and Escanor had 15. It was now 4:35Pm and everyone knew Escanor's ability to drink was declining, but, Ban was also running low on energy and was close to passing out drunk.

Twenty five minutes passed and most of the participants had been eliminated including Ban, who drank 15 pints and Merlin who drunk 13. The only competitors left were Dreyfus, Hendrickson, Meliodas, Zartras and Escanor. Hendrickson had almost reached his limit with 15 pints, Dreyfus and Zartras were struggling with a respectable 16, Meliodas was enjoying himself with 18 and Escanor was unaffected after 20. Five minutes later Hendrickson could not continue and left the competition with 16 pints. Another ten minutes passed and the battle for third place was being fought; Zartras against Dreyfus. Who would drink the most out of these two? They were neck-n-neck since the beginning and the two brothers began sweating as they reached for their 18th pint. They both began chugging the pint to determine who would be in third place, as the crowd was going wild. Dreyfus's regular stops at the bar gave him the advantage over his older brother and he was able to finish his 19th pint, as he watched Zartras tap out. They gave each other a hug and both passed out.

Now, the finale between Escanor and Meliodas could commence. Both sins had not budged an inch since the beginning of the contest and they were both certain the other would collapse. Escanor's immunity to alcohol would run out in forty five minutes and Meliodas's face was already red as he was beginning to face his limit. Over 3000 years of experience had led him to this moment and he was adamant on defeating Escanor. They had both drunk over twenty pints, which was twice the maximum intake of an adult male. With 23 pints down, Meliodas reached for his 24th and watched the bubbles burst on the top. He covered his mouth, as his stomach had begun rejecting the large quantities of beer he had ingested. This was his competition; he could not let Escanor beat him in this challenge. Escanor had a total of 25 pints and was beginning to feel their effects.

The clock was ticking on both participants and one of them was going to give up. Escanor's Pride or Meliodas's determination could possibly win; the question was which would conquer the other. Thirty minutes left until sunset and both competitors were reaching their limits. Escanor's form had begun changing and his immunity to alcohol had taken a dive, whilst Meliodas's determination had become fragmented. They continued drinking and drinking, until the judges came to a consensus and stated at 6Pm the contest would stop, the person with most pints would win. The last minutes of the competition was upon both of the remaining sins. They were both sickened by the thought of another beer and were completely overwhelmed by the amount of alcohol they had ingested. They last few seconds ticked down and the judged called out.

Margaret: "Times up, the winners will be presented in a few minutes."

* * *

In these few minutes the sins rushed over to help their captain, who had they had never seen drunk, and gave him food and water. Merlin decided the captain had enough support and went over to Escanor, who had changed into his night form, and was trying his hardest not to throw up. Merlin gave him a magical tablet to, in order to calm his stomach and he thanked her, in his now soft and humble voice. She smiled at him, patted him on the back and asked Diane to help him up. He smiled at the sin of Envy and walked over to the rest of the sins, where he decided to have some fun.

Escanor: "You have greatly fouled my mood, Meliodas" he said in a stern and somewhat antagonized voice

King: "AHHHHH, Escanor's gonna kill us!" he said, panicking

Gowther: "That is highly likely, King." He said, logically speaking of course.

Ban: "Zzz… Zzz" *Ban had passed out*

Meliodas: "Come on…it was just a game Escanor…" he said, noticing Diane and Merlin giggling in the background.

Escanor: "Just kidding" he said, smiling at their tormented faces.

King and Meliodas: "Asshole!" they said, clearly not amused

Margaret: "Attention everyone, we have the results for first, second and third places, for this contest" she said and was seemingly happy the contest was over.

The crowd reformed in front of the stand and the competitors lined up on the stage. Everyone was glancing around, as most of them had passed out and were clueless as to whom the winner was.

Margaret: "Thank you for your patience. Ahem, third place goes to Sir Dreyfus" she said, followed by a round of applause and happy Dreyfus taking his place on the podium.

Dreyfus: "Thanks everyone!"

Margaret: "In second place, by a single pint, we have The Lion's sin of Pride, Lord Escanor." She continued; the applause got louder, despite everyone being afraid of Escanor. He appeared on the opposite side of the podium to Dreyfus and waved shyly at the crowd.

Escanor: "Th-thank you very much" he said, bowing to express his gratitude.

Margaret: "Finally, in first place, the captain of the seven deadly sins, Sir Meliodas" she declared, as the crowd went wild and Meliodas stood in the centre of the podium and waved at the crowd.

Meliodas: "Thanks Everyone, I did it!" he said, content with the outcome of his chosen contest. He was incredibly happy that he had beaten Escanor and taken first place, however, if this event would have taken place an hour earlier he knew he would have lost.

Margaret: "Please help me congratulate all the participants and wish them a speedy recovery for tomorrow's competition."

The day came to an end and everyone went home. The competitors dealt with their hangovers, the worst being Escanor's of course. The next contest would commence at 6Pm the next day, and would last as long as it needed too. The contest was Ban's decision and he chose the one thing he was unmatched in: cooking. The next contest would be shorter than the first, but, for now everyone needed a good rest.

Everyone: "Good night"

* * *

Next chapter: The cook-off


	2. The Cook-Off

The second day of competitions was now underway, the royal family and many of the citizens of Liones worked tirelessly with the knights of the kingdom to organize this event, in particular. Today, the contest was a cook off, which was Ban's decision. Everyone though he would choose a competition based upon stealing, but, even he had to admit that the captain's ability to steal panties rivalled his own. Choosing a cook off was the best option for him; this would be his revenge for losing to the captain in the drink off. Each contestant was given the option to cook whatever they felt like, although they all had different ideas on what would impress the King. Each competitor had to serve 3 meals; an entrée, a main course and a dessert. The King was a great fan of food and, today, he would score each dish out of 10. The person with the highest score at the end would win this challenge. They started around 6:00Pm to remove Escanor's attitude problems and because it was around dinnertime. There was just one problem for this contest that Ban had already taken into consideration.

* * *

Diane: *snivel* *hic*

King: "What's wrong Diane?" he said concerned for the giant's well-being.

Diane: *crying intensifies*

Escanor: "She… is too big to fit inside of the kitchen… so she cannot take part in this contest. Not to mention that she only knows how to cook grilled and roast pork." He said nervously, trying to explain to King the situation.

Diane: *sob* *sniff* "y-y-yeah…" *hic* she said, failing to hold her tears back.

Ban: "Jesus, you're quite the cry-baby Diane… Escanor looks like a man in front of you" He said, joking around and whistling as he walked away.

King: "That Ban, I'm gonna beat him for you Diane." he said confidently, the slightest smile from the sin of Envy was all he wanted.

Diane: "But, King… you suck at cooking" she said, twiddling her pigtails. King could not believe what he had heard; she had no confidence in his ability to cook. Although, she was right, neither of them could cook and Gowther could only follow the recipe correctly.

Escanor: "I-I-In that case I can help as well…" he said, trying to calm Diane down before she had a teenage tantrum.

Diane: "Really? Thanks Escanor." She said, showing signs of a smile. Meanwhile, King had curled into a ball and had begun sobbing to himself. Meanwhile, the rest of the competitors seemed slightly nervous due to Ban's presence, except Meliodas. His confidence shone brighter than Escanor upon sunrise and it was only getting harder to stand near him. When looking upon his childish smile everyone was uneasy, until Merlin appeared behind him.

Merlin: "You seem very confident today, Sir Captain."

Meliodas: "Yep, I'm confident… I'm going to come last" he said, laughing to himself and making all the other competitors stare at him with a vague expression.

Bartras: "Attention everyone, please make your way to the royal kitchen as I am extremely hungry. What about you girls?"

Elizabeth, Margaret and Veronica: "Yeah!" They said with a passionate fire in their eyes.

The competitors ran to the kitchen and were fixated on their own desires. Meliodas and Merlin decided they would not bother in this contest and chose to forfeit before the match began. Most of the other holy knights were equally convinced that with Ban in the kitchen they stood no chance. Leaving a minimum of 20 holy knights in the kitchen including; Dreyfus, Hendrickson, Zartaras and the 4 remaining sins. They each began cooking their entrées, Escanor and King having promised they would defeat Ban for Diane and Merlin wanting to see what Escanor would do. Merlin was expecting a particular competitor to shine and was hoping he would bring her a particular dish she had in mind. The only things Merlin could not resist were incredible magical power and desserts, her sweet tooth was well known in Liones.

* * *

 **The Entrees:**

Fifteen minutes passed and the entrées were leaving the kitchen, the King and his daughters began eating each dish and the King's verdict for each dish followed suite. Ban scored a 9, Dreyfus a 5, Hendrickson a 6, King a 2, Gowther a 5 and Zaratras a 7. Escanor was the last competitor and surprised everyone by giving them a very sweet entrée, almost as if he had made the food specifically for Merlin. Upon feeding the royal family, he would walk over to Merlin and place a glass of red wine next to his sweet dish, in front of her. He turned to face the royal family, but, not before blushing as Merlin smiled at him. Escanor scored a 9 and considering the princesses could bend the King's decision he had carefully planned out his dishes. All the competitors who scored 5 or less on the entrées were eliminated from the competition, mainly because Bartras did not want to eat more horrible food. This cut the original 20 holy knights down to just 10. Those holy knights returned to the kitchen, whilst the others made their way to other surrounding tables. King floated over to the captain's table and was extremely displeased, seeing how 5 of the sins were now out of the competition. Whilst Meliodas and Gowther rooted for Ban, the rest of the sins were rooting for Escanor, especially Merlin. The sins at the table had a little conversation, as the remaining contestants returned to the kitchen.

King: "Sorry, Diane, I could not beat Ban…" he said in a negative tone.

Diane: "That's okay, King, I didn't expect you to beat him anyway." She said, hoping to cheer him up. This only hurt King more, but, he would remain strong and sit through it. All he was thinking now was "Escanor had better win".

Merlin: "If Escanor can make it to the dessert menu, then he won't lose to Ban." She said, with confidence and faith in Escanor.

Meliodas: "What do you mean Merlin? Is there something you know about Escanor that we should know?"

Merlin: "Every dish Escanor serves will be very sweet and exactly to my standards. In the kingdom there is nobody better than Escanor when it comes to making sweet food. I believe the reason for this could be his crush on me, but, I digress." She said, mumbling the last part to herself and showing a slight blush.

King: "Did you say something Merlin?" he asked, curious as to what she mumbled.

Merlin: "Oh, nothing you need concern yourself with King." She said, taking a sip of her red wine.

Diane: "hmm… Escanor is really sweet so I suppose it's rather poetic he's good at making sweet things." She said, laughing at her conclusion. The events at Edinburgh had yet to transpire, therefore she had no idea what Escanor's personality was like during the day.

* * *

 **The Main Course:**

They competitors in the kitchen had spent twenty minutes on their main course and were ready to present their meal to the royal family. For the main course, anybody with a score lower than 7 would be eliminated, this put more pressure on the chefs and forced them to bring their A-game. Upon receiving Ban's main course the King looked delighted at the presentation. Ban had prepared a seared salmon, garnished with pan-fried artichokes, mash potato and a savory sauce. Whilst the final contestant Escanor had completed a honey soy chicken, followed with sweet mash potato and honey mustard topping. After the tasting had ceased the King determined each competitor's score. Unfortunately nobody made it past 7 points except Ban with 9, Escanor with 8 and Zaratras with 8. The competition had arrived to its final stage: desserts, the only thing ban could not make. The final three returned to the kitchen and began making their desserts.

Diane: "YES! Escanor's got this!" she yelled, stretching her arms outward and doing a miniature dance.

King's thoughts: "Well… at least she's happy" he said, letting out a small smile.

* * *

 **The Desserts:**

Back inside of the kitchen, a greedy man was looking for the perfect person to prey on. He knew he could not win the dessert challenge, but, he also knew that Escanor was fairly good at making them. Without a moment's hesitation he snuck behind Escanor and stole his dish, hoping that it would give him the win. Ban wanted to win, so that he could get permission, from the king, for a week off from the sins. This was so he could return to the fairy king's forest, see Elaine again and feed the sacred tree more of his blood. So far, Escanor has the best track record between both challenges and if he were to win this challenge we would be very far ahead of all the other competitors.

Ban: "This is for Elaine, thanks Escanor." He mumbled, catching the sin of Pride off guard and snatching the beautiful chocolate cake he had prepared.

Escanor: "huh? Where did my cake go?" he asked, with a puzzling look on his face. Ban was delighted he went unnoticed, but, he should have noticed Escanor's smile as he passed him by.

Each of the contestants returned to the dining room and presented their dishes one after another. The great holy knight was the first to go up and stated that he had made a two tier sponge cake with jam and cream, a nice Liones classic. Ban then presented Escanor's dish, which made him smile with glee. It was a Victorian sponge cake, filled with chocolate and cream and topped with a chocolate ganache, strawberries and icing sugar. Upon cutting into the cake the King noticed something peculiar in the dish. A devilish smile appeared on Escanor's face and Ban realized he had been duped. Inside of the cake was a single word "Escanor's". Judging by this signature in the cake, Ban was considered dessert less and would surprisingly come third, with 18 points. Sir Zaratras would come second, with 22 points and Escanor with 27.

Diane: "Yay! He won, I knew he would." She said happily seeing Ban defeated.

Merlin: "No surprises there, Escanor is better at making cakes." *nom* she said, whilst stuffing her face with a piece of Escanor's cake.

King: "If you didn't win after all that Escanor you would not have heard the end of it." He mumbled, forgetting that he was utterly useless in this contest.

Escanor: "Well… I won guys." He said, smiling nervously.

Ban: "Well played with that signature in the cake, but how did you know I was going to steal it?"

Escanor: "Umm… Gowther told me you would." He said, pointing at Gowther he was currently reading a book against a wall. He noticed his name and waved at Ban with his utter lack of emotion.

Ban: "Damn that Gowther." He said, in a singing manner.

Bartras: "Now that the cook off has ended, I would like everyone to get some rest for the next challenge. He will start at 2:00Pm tomorrow, although everyone should meet at the castle as we have yet to find a suitable location. Anyway, good night and let tomorrow be an exhilarating contest." He concluded, drinking a glass of red wine and retiring to his chamber.

Escanor: "I guess I will see everyone tomorrow… I-I-I hope I don't lose control. That would be bad." He said, realizing the risks they were running allowing him to be in the competition.

Merlin: "It's fine, let's just get a good night's rest… OK?" she said, reassuring the sin of Pride and returning him to his room. Before activating the perfect cube, she lent towards him and kissed him on the cheek.

Escanor: "Wha…!" he yelled, in shock.

Merlin: "Thanks for dinner, Escanor." She said, smiling at him sweetly.

* * *

Next chapter: Arm-Wrestling Mayhem


	3. Arm-Wrestling Mayhem

**The winners so far:**

 **#1 Escanor**

 **#2 Meliodas**

 **#3 Ban**

* * *

The third day of the competitions had finally arrived. The streets were filled with cheering citizens and eager competitors. The holy knights were pumped for a physical contest against the seven deadly sins; they were looking forward to defeating at least one of the seven sins. There was a little problem; 2 of the sins had already forfeited this competition. Merlin was most displeased when she had a physical trial to overcome and chose not to participate knowing full well who was going to win this contest and the second sin to forfeit was King. King was not a big fan of tedious work and arm-wrestling was one of the things he considered childish and more to Ban's taste. As a fair, he could not fall ill… so he chose to invent other excuses; he did not want to have his arm broken by some of those brutes, namely Ban and captain. Instead of partaking in this fun activity King and helped prepare his own contest for tomorrow. The fat fairy flew around the town as he was thinking of the perfect course; he was including a few traps people might give himself an advantage. He was targeting Ban and Escanor... because the former is a jerk and the latter is winning by a landslide.

* * *

King: "If I set up a shrine of Merlin that will surely make him stop… or perhaps a quill and paper?" he pondered. He was angry that he was unable to please Diane, yet Escanor did it so easily. King knew he had way more experience socializing than Escanor, there being over 1000 years between them and obviously believed there was no way a shy guy could do that.

King: "It's almost as if he is good at everything! I cannot have him winning my race… that's my time to shine… I hope Diane will think highly of me if I win the race." He said, drifting off into his imagination until he bumped into an old man.

 ***THUD***

King: "Ouch! Sorry about that…" he said, his brain frazzled from the impact.

Old man: "that's okay, sonny, here let me give you a hand." He said a soothing tone in his voice.

King: "Thanks, are you here to watch the arm-wrestling matches?"

Old man: "Yes, I am… but, it seems to me that the giant girl over there is clearly going to flatten these poor holy knights." He said concerned for their safety.

King: "She's not that strong" King said, jokingly… still pretending that Diane's strength was still as it was when they were kids.

Old Man: "The only person I see who might stand a chance is that fella with all the muscles." He said, pointing at a very obvious candidate.

King: "…Escanor…"

Old Man: "Oh, that's his name? I heard he was dangerous… so I hope they have a containment plan." He said, chuckling to himself.

King: "Well I have to go; I need to set up this race for tomorrow…" he said in an urgent tone.

Old Man: "Oh… a race? Have you decided where you'll be holding it?" he said, curiously.

King: "No… I haven't and that really bugs me." The look of disappointment was clearly written on his face.

Old Man: "Here, let me show you a few things I use to do in my younger days. I use to coach and design races all the time. So I help you out." He said, smiling and offering support King really needed.

King: "Thank you, I'll take you up on that offer." He said; reassured that his race would be awesome.

* * *

 **Meanwhile at the tournament:**

It was close to 10Am and the crowd was as vibrant as ever. The anticipation in the crowd was intense and the holy knights involved were nervous displaying their strength in front of them. Most of the holy knights were rippled with muscles, Gowther stood out being the only one in his armor and Merlin was on standby in case Escanor lost control. Meliodas was exciting and Ban was the main opponent he wanted to face and everyone had the same pick between who they did not want to face Escanor and Diane. Without any delay, the king stepped onto the podium and announced the beginning of the games, wishing everyone a good time and having all of the contestants names placed in a hat. The names were pulled randomly and everyone was set up into their individual matches. The table was set up similar to any tournament style, losers were knocked out and the finals would be decided from each block.

 **Round 1:**

The first round began and with it the matches were easily paired. 16 arm wrestling matches took place and 16 competitors were sent packing. Diane was only allowed to use her pinkie, as her strength was considered the highest amongst all the other knights competing, thus a little unfair. Meliodas easily beat a guy twice his size and rippled with muscles and Ban beat Dale, in a very convincing victory. The next round was set up and Gowther had unfortunately been paired up with Escanor.

 **Round 2:**

The second round was much more intense that the first. Major contenders in the league had been paired against each other, in the 8 matches that took place. The first match was Dreyfus vs Meliodas and the last match was Gowther vs Escanor. Ban was up against Slader and Diane had been paired against Zaratras. Dreyfus and Meliodas sat at a table, in the middle of a huge arena, and waited for their match to begin.

Announcer: "Dreyfus, ready?"

Dreyfus: "Ready!" he said, a confidant man giving his son a thumbs-up, to stop him from crying.

Announcer: "Meliodas, ready?"

Meliodas: "Ready!" he said, equally as confidant, but, gazing across at the young Elizabeth… something he had been doing a lot lately.

Announcer: "Begin!"

The table shook as the two knights began their test of strength. Each of them stood their ground; Dreyfus's larger hands giving more dominance over Meliodas, but, Meliodas strength being much higher than Dreyfus's. It took very little time for Dreyfus's muscles to give into Meliodas's strength and after that the matches continued. Hendrickson achieved a minor victory over a fellow holy knight, Ban defeated Slader by using Snatch on other participants, Diane's size and power threatened Zaratras and he simply gave up and the last match was all that was left. Escanor and Gowther were ready at the table and everybody was wondering how this would go. Escanor's last opponent forfeited, but, Gowther did not see the risk of going against Escanor. The announcer counted down from 3…2…1…Begin. The moment the announcer said begin, the ground beneath the table began cracking and within seconds the table on which they were both using was broken. Gowther's body had been lifted from the ground and pummelled into the table. The sheer amount of force Escanor used to demolish Gowther's armoured body was unbelievable and everyone's expression turned from a cheering crowd to a slightly worried crowd.

Gowther: "It is okay, I am unharmed…" he reassured them.

With that the crowd returned to their original behaviour and Escanor smiled slightly at Merlin, before walking past her. Clearly Merlin told Escanor, Gowther's body is capable of taking a lot of punishment… thus Escanor chose to be excessively violent with him. After that little train wreck, the pairings for the remaining 4 matches were set.

 _Meliodas vs an arm-wrestling Champion_

 _Ban vs a sneaky holy knight_

 _Diane vs a 3 metre tall guy, rippled with muscles and did not seem too bright._

 _Escanor vs Hendrickson_

* * *

 **Round 3:**

Meliodas found his opponent's confidence wasn't lacking, but, his strength was lower than Dreyfus's and he flipped the large man like a pancake. He could have held back a little more, but, that wouldn't be fun.

Ban found his opponent to be extremely difficult, using various methods to cheat his way to victory. He got Ban drinking before their match had begun, but, that just increased Ban's arm wrestling match with more enjoyment. He found it much easier to smash this guy into the table and being drunk, held nothing back. After their match was over, the sneaky holy knight was sent to the infirmary.

Diane lounged out across the arena, flexed out her pinkie and waited for her opponent to appear. She was clearly frustrated by the conditions she was participating in and was even more annoyed that her opponent was late. Her opponent appeared slightly bigger than in previous rounds… almost comparable to Escanor, the difference being Escanor's muscles were legitimate. Her opponent had used magic to imbue his own muscles with strength enhancements. This way he could stand his ground against the remaining sins and a giantess. He walked over to her pinkie and placed his large hand around it; staring at each other for a few seconds… then the match began. Diane felt a tight pull on her pinkie, clearly expecting less resistance than this from a man almost a third of her size. She was tempted to use her entire hand, but that would be cheating… according to Bartras's rules. This magical enhancement did not go unnoticed; in fact, it was dealt with quite quickly.

Escanor: "Merlin… I sense two different types of magic from within that man… I believe he is tainted with some kind of artificial power. It would be best of you used your 'absolute cancel' on him, so that Diane need not struggle against such a vile man."

Merlin: "Fair enough… But, I'm surprised you care about her safety that much."

Escanor: "It's not that I care about what happens to her… I just don't like seeing dishonourable behaviour." He said, in an unconvincing tone. Escanor would never tell Merlin what happened on his first mission with Diane and King… the only thing she knows is that Diane came back afraid of bugs and King was scared of Escanor. Merlin smiled and began chuckling to herself.

 _ *****_ _Absolute cancel_ _ *****_

The man felt his power and momentum decrease rapidly, as efficient the lovely Merlin was, until they were completely removed. Once they no longer existed Diane smiled and regained control of the match. Using his pinkie finger she pushed the man's arm down, flipping around and crashing him into the arena.

 ***BOOM***

The cheat of a man now lay in a small crater created by Diane's rage. The sin of Envy stood up and returned to her original position sitting next to the captain, who was reluctantly snuggled into her cheeks. The competition was halted due to the necessary repairs to the arena. During that time the sins had a nice conversation about who was going to win. The competition had been running for approximately one hour, making the last matches quite the handful. Merlin teleported her control bracelet onto Escanor's wrist to limit his emotions and give him more control. The sins having a pleasant conversation turned into a rather violent one, fairly quickly.

Ban: "I'm gonna beat either one of you and then I'll fight the captain in the final round" he said, grabbing a mug of Ale and beginning to drink. He laughed out loud, but, the two people he mentioned were not pleased.

Diane: "Ban… if I go up against you I'll break you like a twig, you got that."

Escanor: "You won't last more than a second against me, the fact remains your hoping to get stuck with Diane… even though she trample you." He said, convinced Ban was talking out of his ass.

Ban: "I guess you'll find out if I'm as good as you guys or not then… *gulp* ah, that was refreshing now… back to my next opponent."

The lots had been drawn and the stage had been fixed, the four remaining participants stood at the edge of the ring, anxiously waiting to be paired against Ban, so that they could crush him.

Announcer: "The match-ups have led us too: Meliodas vs Escanor and Ban vs Diane. Which group would like to go up first?"

Diane: "Us!" she said an evil smile on her face as she lay down to fight off Ban. Unbeknownst to her was that Ban had been stealing strength away from Escanor since the beginning of the contest and was now fully charged.

Ban: "Bring it on you giant moron" *hic* he said, a little tipsy as usual.

The two sins locked arm and pinkie, which began the match. Diane struggled against Ban's newfound strength and the latter seemed to have plenty more left. Diane realized that Ban had cheated and taken someone else's strength, but, there should have been no way he got strong enough to beat her, right? A few minutes passed and Escanor decided to sit down, his body not pleased with Ban stealing its energy. There was no way Diane could defeat Ban with Escanor's strength and so eventually she gave in.

Ban: "I told you I'd win!" he said, cheekily.

Diane: "You only beat me because you cheated… I hope the captain smashes you into the ground next round." She yelled.

Meliodas: "That's if I make it there Diane… I could easily lose this match. Shall we go Escanor?"

The sins of Pride and Wrath made their way onto the pit and their wrestling match would begin moments later… however, one of them wanted to beat up Ban in the finals and the other was about to feel that person's passion. The fight commenced and Meliodas began tugging at Escanor's arm, he found himself desperately trying to overwhelm him, but, simply couldn't. On the other hand Escanor was paying more attention to Ban, than he was to Meliodas. Meliodas decided that he needed to remind his fellow sin who his current opponent was. He activated his demon mark in hoped of pushing on him a little further, this sparked Escanor's attention and he started to push back against Meliodas.

Meliodas: "It's like arm-wrestling Diane, except the weight is replaced with force." He whined.

Diane: "HEY! Don't talk about my weight like that." she yelled, clearly not wanting people to know how much she weights (a lot)

Escanor: "I suppose I shouldn't hold back right… Meliodas?" he said

Meliodas: "Don't go crazy on me Escanor!" he stated, a little concerned.

Escanor: "… I won't…"

The match was drawing close to its end and Meliodas was beginning to feel the pressure coming surging from Escanor. The air around them was thin and the ground beneath them began to shake violently. It would seem that Escanor and Meliodas were fighting at even strength, due; to neither of them giving an inch… however Meliodas had been forced to use his demonic powers to keep up with Escanor and that is why this arm wrestle was giving off the vibe of a standstill. If this was performed on the ground then the entirety of Liones might have cracks running through it. Thank god for Merlin enhancing the tables with magic. The two competitors began yelling at the top of their lungs as they reached the final hurdle of their match.

Escanor: "HNNNNGGGGGG!"

Meliodas: "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

 ***BANG!***

The magically enhanced table could not contain the power of both individuals and it was turned into ash. The wrestle left both competitors gasping for air as they both looked at the other. Escanor stood tall, having won the match and offered his right arm to Meliodas, lifting up his defeated captain. The entire crowd was going crazy, they weren't expecting to see Diane or Meliodas lose until the final match. Escanor beating the captain in a contest was unusual, but, most members of the general public were unaware about how strong Escanor was. They both returned to the stall, where the victor gave a thumbs-up to Merlin and Ban looked up from his drink and proceeded to shit himself.

* * *

Escanor: "I suppose the final match is me against Ban then." He said, with a devilish grin came across his face.

Ban: "Don't take what I said before personally though… ok Escanor." He said, nervously.

Escanor: "I won't…" he said, an expression that clearly showcased the dishonesty of those words.

The final match came faster than most people expected due to the speed at which contestants were beaten. Although, the final match would prove to be quite difficult for Ban. Merlin procured a new table and both contenders sat opposite one another. They both locked hands; Escanor's being twice the size of Ban's and attached to far bigger muscles. The announcer was very specific with her marks and on the count of 1, Ban felt a very large pressure rise from Escanor and he felt his hand tighten. Looking up to Escanor's face, he noticed the sin of Pride smiling, clearly pleased with the plan he was about to follow through. The announcer finally said "go" and Escanor grip tighten even more so until the crowd heard a loud…

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM***

Looking around at the stadium, it was obvious that Escanor was quite displeased with Ban and decided to take matters into his own hands… literally. When the latter sat down, his fate had already been decided, Escanor decided to start with his full power instead of progressing into it with Meliodas and he literally tore Ban's arm apart, Ban's entire body followed suite as well. The sin of Greed had been smashed relentlessly into the ground, his legs both broken from the impact and his right arm face down on Escanor's side of the table which was the only part of the table that did not get destroyed. Everyone clearly saw that Escanor took that fight Way too far…

Escanor: "I hate people who foul my mood." He muttered.

Clearly the winner was Escanor… another victory it would seem… at this rate the King's request would be given to Escanor or Ban… considering they have the most wins. He went over to the remainder of the competitors and sat down, looking at the poor unsuspecting Ban who had been smashed into the ground.

Meliodas: "You didn't have to get that violent… did you?" he asked, questioning Escanor's control and state of mind.

Escanor: "No… I simply lost control for a minute… that was all." He said; the sun was clearly affecting him. "Anyways, the tournament is over so I should head back inside." He concluded.

He returned to his chamber with Merlin and Gowther following suite, just to keep him in check. Meliodas pulled Ban out of the ground and Diane looked around, hoping to find King.

Diane: "King!" she said, in her usual sweet voice.

King: "Oh… hey Diane, how was the arm-wrestling contest… I'm assuming you won right?"

Diane: "Nope… Ban cheated and then Escanor obliterate him after besting the captain!" she said with a huge pouty face.

King: "I'm assuming that would be Ban in the middle of that crater then… hehehehe?" he said, pointing towards what looked to be the remains of Ban.

Diane: "Yup… speaking of which what you do whilst we were doing this?" she said, going from a smile to a curious look on her face, moving a little too close to King forcing him to let out a blush.

King: "I was preparing for my race, which I finally finished setting up… it took a lot more effort than I thought it would." He said, letting out a sigh.

Diane: "Good to know, I can't wait to win it." She said with excitement.

Meliodas: "Hey guys watch you talking about?" he asked, carrying an unconscious Ban to an infirmary bed.

Diane and King: "Tomorrow's race."

Meliodas: "Good, I should also mention that Escanor is not competing in the race… letting him win that would be a bit unfair for points after all. We also need him to cool off." He said, reassuring them that Escanor would not have any outbursts.

Meliodas: "Anyway I'll see you guys tomorrow, you can do whatever you like, until then… I'm gonna go drink." He said, with a bottle of booze already in his hand.

Ban: "Me too… captain…" said an unconscious Ban.

Diane and King: "See ya, captain!"

Diane: "Guess we should go have fun then" she said with a smile before running off.

King: "Wah…Wait for me!"

* * *

Next Chapter: A Fast Paced Race


	4. A Fast Paced Race

The sun rose on the kingdom of Liones, as the fourth day of competition was scheduled to take place. The kingdom was silent, each street was empty, each home was locked and each citizen had vanished from their daily routines. The only sound that resonated within the castle's dungeon was the soft breathing of a slumbering Lion. The sin of Pride slept peacefully through the day and the fourth event, due to being removed from it. It was a strange request to remove a contestant from a contest, but, King was very insistent that Escanor not take place. King has a long history of being scared of Escanor and today was no exception. Not to mention, Escanor is by far the fastest of the seven sins… even at night he out speeds Diane, Gowther and Merlin. King clearly had numerous amounts of reasons to remove Escanor from his race, and although he knew he could not beat Escanor… he simply did not want anyone getting hurt by the latter's competitive nature and potential solar explosions that could kill all the other participants. Luckily King did not have to worry about that anymore.

* * *

The starting line was situated at Camelot. The old man King spoke to earlier happened to be the King of Camelot and he was quite interested in allowing his knights to see what a true holy knight could do. All of the citizens of Liones had dispersed themselves around the borders of the course, with the majority of them waiting at the gates of Liones, where the race who end. Since they wanted to see the race in its entirety, Merlin used a few of her specialised orbs to create large portals the citizens could see through, in total there were 8. This way they would get a live feed of the race and all the important details would be shown. All the big names, except for Escanor were in this race, which was a huge relief for all the other competitors. As the competitors were preparing for the race, King decided they should be given clear instructions on what to do. He pulled out a map and began marking the different areas (9 in total) explaining what each of them would entail.

 **King** : " _Gather around everyone, I need to explain the course to each of you._ " He said, waving his arms in an effort to get everyone's attention.

 **King** : " _Okay, the first part of the race will start here, at Camelot. Following that we will go across the Bermuda plain and into the Ambrail forest. Keep in mind there are obstacles on both the plain and the forest. You can expect sink holes to appear on the plain, whilst there are swinging logs, pitfalls and wild animals in the forest. After those two areas, you will run through an abandoned village, up the Valencia mountain range, past the town of Bernia, across the Quickflow River and through the valley of desire. After the valley, you will find yourselves a few kilometers away from Liones and it should be a straight forward run from there._ " He explained, watching as everyone stared at him, blank expressions on their faces.

 **King** : " _Furthermore, there is no teleporting allowed… floating is fine though. Any question?_ " he asked, wanting his contest to be the best.

 **Meliodas** : " _Why did you make us run past Bernia?_ " he questioned, looking at him with an unimpressed expression.

 **King** : " _Maybe I know you'll stop for a drink captain… you never know._ " He said, clearly putting everyone's weaknesses into his challenge, barring his own.

 **Merlin** : " _May we start the race already? I need to do some more experimenting on Escanor's ability before the day is through_." she asked, informing the sins of her intentions with Escanor.

 **Meliodas** : " _It's rather cruel for you to string along like this, you know?_ " he said, trying to change her perspective of things.

 **Merlin** : " _True, but I must learn of his power, it is a very interesting ability; unique, powerful and unidentified within all the major and minor clans. It is truly a scientists dream to research such a thing._ " She stated, reassuring Meliodas that she did not intend to hurt Escanor, but, rather learn everything about his ability.

 **Meliodas** : " _Okay, but, if Escanor finds out and decides he's going to kill you, I'm not going to stand in his way._ " He responded, Merlin nodded her head in agreement and they both moved on to the starting line. Diane hearing the whole event pressed her hand against her chest. 'How could Merlin be so mean?' she thought. She needed to tell Escanor, but, that would crush him. Perhaps she should tell him after the competitions are over. Regardless the others were waiting on her to start the race.

 **King:** " _Diane is everything all right?_ " he asked, concerned why she had not arrived.

 **Diane** : " _Coming!_ " she said nervously.

All the competitors lined up and waited for the designated time to start the race. The king of Camelot appeared with his biological son, Kay, and his adopted son, Arthur. Merlin glanced at Arthur and let out a small smile before returning her focus to the race at hand. King had decided to fly quickly, similar to that time he raced against Helebram. That was the main inspiration for his competition. King Uther Pendragon lifted a red flag and raised it above his head. The competitors braced themselves awaiting the flag's descent.

 **Uther Pendragon** : " _Ready, steady, go!_ " he yelled out, moving the flag in a downward motion and watching as the competitors took off.

King with his incredible flight speed quickly took the position of first place and arrived at the Bermda plains before anyone else. He easily avoided the pitfall traps that were laid on the ground, considering he was flying above them. After him came Diane, whose long legs gave her a distinct advantage against her competitors, close behind Diane were Ban, then Meliodas and then the rest of the competitors. Unfortunately having giant sized feet made it impossible for her not to step on the pitfalls. She managed to avoid a large number of them; however the ones she did trigger caused her to fall over. This happened over ten times. On the tenth time she watched as Ban and Meliodas passed her.

 **Ban** : " _Looks like Bigfoot's falling for the old pitfall trap captain! I guess that's what happens when you're that big!_ " he yelled, laughing at Diane struggling and causing her to stand up enraged at the sin of Greed. Gowther appeared next to Ban, in his suit of armor.

 **Gowther** : " _Her weight might also affect her triggering the traps. After all she weights around…_ " he explained, before Diane kicked him whilst he was in mid-sentence. Gowther landed incredibly far away, to the point where he was out of the race.

 **Diane** : " _Ban!_ " she said in a singing voice.

 **Ban** : " _What's up Bigfoot?_ " He asked, turning his head only to find Diane's body pitch black and her eyes glowing bright red. Her aura had purely evil intentions.

 **Diane** : " _I suppose if I'm going to step on everything with my big feet, I may as well STEP ON YOU!_ " she yelled, desperately trying to step on Ban, who avoided all her attempts at doing so. This little event gave Meliodas a lead on both Ban and Diane as he continued running across the plains towards the forest.

King had cleared half of the forest and had easily distanced himself from the others. Being the lazy fairy he was, he decided to slow down and conserve his strength, giving the others time to catch up. Meliodas had encountered a few of the pitfall traps and avoided the triggering the log traps. The human holy knights were running at a steady pace and were led by Dreyfus. Merlin had given herself enough distance between Diane and Dreyfus to take the same strategy as King.

Ban and Diane entered the Ambrail forest and clearly had other things on their mind that avoiding the traps. Ban was triggering all the pitfall traps in hopes that Diane would step into one and fall over, whilst Diane was triggering all of the log traps. The logs were traveling quite quickly, but coming into contact with Diane's giant body they shattered into pieces. Regardless of that, Ban was beginning to worry… he needed to win this race in order to create an opportunity for him to win the entire competition. He only wanted one thing and that was to find a way to revive a dead person. He needed to win this race, so he chose to use Snatch on Meliodas before in the confusion with Diane. Ban's speed was slowly increasing, whilst Meliodas's was doing the opposite. The distance between both parties grew smaller, as Diane continued to keep up with Ban. He then had a wonderful idea… What if he took Diane's strength as well? A sinister smile appeared across his face. He twisted his upper body around and stretched his arm outwards.

* _ **Physical Hunt**_ * Diane heard Ban use his magic and immediately took advantage of him being distracted.

* _ **Diane Stomp**_ * she yelled in a playful tone. The stomped on Ban with an extreme amount pressure capable of killing any normal holy knight. She began skipping with joy as she rushed after Meliodas and King. She was incredibly pleased with herself and her smile was proof of that. A minute went by and Merlin, followed by Dreyfus and the rest of the holy knights rushed past Ban's recovering body. He recuperated and angrily charged past them all to get revenge on Diane. He chose to use Snatch on Denzel, Slader and Dale instead, increasing his speed exponentially.

Back in front, King had made it to the bottom of the Valencia mountain range. He could see Meliodas's figure in the center of the city and Diane following behind him. He began to gaze at Diane luscious hair and fantasize about them being together. He reclaimed his thought and continued pressing onward. The course was designed for him to win; there was no way he could lose this. Was there? Meliodas was jogging at a steady pace, so that he could bolt the final few kilometers, until he suddenly heard Diane speaking to him.

 **Meliodas** : " _What the?_ " He said, surprised by her sudden appearance.

 **Diane** : " _Bye, captain!_ " she said, in a sweet tone as her thundering footsteps and towering legs sent her off into the distance. She wanted the captain to win, but she really wanted beat him as well. Surprisingly she was conflicted, but, she also had to catch up with King. She let out a small smile as she came up with an idea of how to get over the mountain range. King himself had arrived at the top of the second mountain, the distance between each wasn't that great and there were only 5 in total. From the bottom of the first mountain he suddenly heard someone yelling.

* _ **R** **ising meteor**_ * Diane came flying up with her creation magic and flew over the mountain range. She landed in a dense patch of forest and as King came down the last Mountain, he suddenly heard Diane screaming.

 **Diane** : " _AHHHHHH! BUGS! GET AWAY, GET AWAY, GET AWAY!_ " she cried. She had accidentally landed on a large beehive and the inhabitants were not pleased that she destroyed their home. She ran around in circles trying to avoid them, more bothered by their existence than their actual stinging. She quickly rushed towards a nearby lake and jumped into it, hoping to discourage the bugs. She remained there for a few minutes giving the rest of the competitors some time to catch up and King time to retake his lead. He was worried about Diane, but, he had to focus on winning this race. He was being relatively selfish today, as one might expect from the sin of Sloth. He continued to racing forward and arrived at the village of Bernia. Upon his instructions they had placed a banquet of food and Bernia ale on a table. Anyone tempted who lose a considerable amount of time… especially Ban. Meliodas finished the mountain range, whilst Ban appeared halfway through it. He was jumping from the peak of each mountain to save time. Diane finally resurfaced and continued the race, weighed down by her wet clothing. Merlin had begun her ascent of the third mountain, following closely behind Ban and the holy knights were struggling to make it past the first mountain. It became apparent that the holy knights were in shape, but they weren't freakishly fast or capable of high endurance tests.

Back to King, who was sitting down and eating a slice of cheese. He had been caught in his own trap. He felt a gust of wind blow past him as he sensed Meliodas' presence close to the village. He immediately set off again, trying to go even faster than before. Meliodas, a fanatic of good beer, decided he would stop for a cold pint of Bernia ale, which allowed King to continue without having to struggle too much. Diane past through Bernia without wanting anything to eat or drink, she had just had a mouthful of lake water; she was very reluctant to ingest anything. Ban followed shortly after Diane entered the village and joined his captain for a drink. Merlin found her title of sin of Gluttony incredibly appropriate. She began sampling anything that had raisins in it, which allowed all the holy knights to pass her. Currently King is in the lead, Diane is a close second, Dreyfus is in third followed by Hendy, Zaratras, Slader, Dale and Denzel, Merlin is following closely behind them all and both the beer fanatics are still drinking.

King came up to the Quickflow River which was just a large river without a bridge to cross. He chose this river so anyone who needed a bridge to cross would be stuck here. King flew over the bridge and made his way to the Valley of Desire. Diane soon followed and considering she was already wet, decided to march straight through the river. The current was too weak to push a giant downstream, so she made it past effortlessly. The holy knights arrived next and stood there perplexed at how they got across. Merlin appeared shortly after and floated across, glancing back at the holy knights, who noticed a large amount of crumbs on her face. Ban and Meliodas came running past the holy knights, Ban being drunk of course, and both jumped the river. The rest of the holy knights decided to also jump the river. Unfortunately, Lord Denzel, Dale, and Slader did not manage to cross the river. They were carried away by the current and ended up 22 kilometers away from the Valley of Desire.

Entering the Valley of Desire, the person who enters is tested. They may either choose to accept or decline what they desire most. This is always an illusion, but the only people who know that are King and Merlin.

King arrives at the valley and his test begins, the valley speaks to him and sends him an artificial version of his desire. What he doesn't know is whoever answers the valley of death's questions is granted that request. The issue is that it takes time to execute and usually requires the user to make certain choices to successfully achieve it.

 **Valley of Desire (VOD)** : " _Choose wisely fairy: Eternal happiness with Diane, the giantess, or returning to the fairy king's forest?_ " He knows it's an illusion, but, he does not know the other half of the story. He believes if you pick the less desirable option then the first option becomes a reality. But, the truth is whatever you pick you get.

 **King** : " _I choose returning to the fairy king's forest._ " He says confidently and carries on to Liones. Diane arrives and she is tested in a similar manner, except with a different question.

 **VOD** : " _Eternal happiness with Meliodas or seeing Matrona again?_ "

 **Diane** : " _Um… seeing Matrona again… I miss her so much._ " She says, a few tears rolling down her face. She wipes them off and carries on, regardless of what the valley had to say. A minute passes and Merlin appears before the valley.

 **VOD** : " _True love that doesn't fail or all the information about 'Sunshine' and Escanor?_ "

 **Merlin** : " _Easy, I'll choose the second one._ " She says without a moment's hesitation. She continues floating along, hoping to make up some distance with the leaders. Ban and Meliodas arrive next and are given the same question.

 **VOD** : " _Resurrecting the woman you love or a lifetime's supply of beer?_ "

 **Both** : " _Resurrecting the woman I love._ " They say, clearly having no need to consider the second option. The rest of the holy knights appear and are given different questions.

 **VOD** : " _Becoming the strongest knight in Liones or resurrecting the demon clan?_ "

 **Dreyfus** : _"Resurrecting the demon clan"_ he says, Fraudrin's mark appearing on his face and him chuckling manically as he leaves.

 **VOD** : " _Being a knight your son is proud of or to have your son grow up to be a proud knight?_ "

 **Zaratras** : " _To have my son grow up to be a proud knight."_ He states, a burning pride in his eyes when the topic of his son is raised.

 **VOD** : " _A woman to marry or returning to the druid clan?_ "

 **Hendrickson** : " _Returning to the druid clan._ " He says, with a slight tone of sorrow in his voice.

Everyone had finally passed through the final area within a single minute. The time that has passed between the beginning time and now has only been 30 minutes. All the knights are close enough to change their positions. After Hendrickson leaves, he turns around and asks himself.

 **Hendrickson** : " _Why does the Valley of Death know so much about us? I'll never understand that._ " He says a curious expression on his face.

 **VOD** : " _I know so much about you because I've been around all of you. The valley of desire is just a myth. This is a regular valley, the name was given to it and now people believe a horrible lie. Although, it was good to see what people wanted, I must admit. I think I'll allow all of your wishes to come true._ " It says. Suddenly a rather muscular man walks out from behind a rock. He has an incantation orb which allows him to disguise his voice and project it. Upon closer inspection the man is actually the Lion's sin of Pride, who wanted to know the truth about the people he was fighting with. Upon letting off a small smile he runs faster you can blink and arrives at his cell, back at Liones.

Back to the race at hand, King has arrived at the final stretch, followed closely by Diane, Ban, Meliodas and then Merlin. The winner of the race would be decided between all of the remaining sins. King kicked into high gear and shot like a bullet across the plain, Diane began sprinting in order to keep up with King, Meliodas activated his demo mark and Merlin's strength was sapped by Ban as he caught up to the others. Now that Merlin had lagged behind, Ban began stealing the strength of Meliodas who also started falling behind. However, Ban could not pass him and Meliodas could not pass the King. The final moments of the race showcased King rushing into first place followed by Meliodas in second and Diane in third. The crowd went wild with their applause and whistling. The remainder of the contestants were still required to finish and thus the sins waited for everyone else to complete the race. Upon the aftermath, King was awarded first place by the king, on the podium. Then the contestants went back to their quarters.

* * *

 **After the race:**

Meliodas and Ban continued their day of drinking at one of the bar's in the capital. King went to check on Diane, who insisted she needed to dry off her clothes, to which he blushed and left her alone. Diane took off her shoes and emptied them out in the middle of the street; the amount of water within her boots caused a large puddle in which the children began to play. This made her laugh as she walked over to the barn she was sleeping in and closed the door. She eventually dried out her clothing and arrived later to have drinks with her friends.

Merlin went over to Escanor's cell to which she was surprised to find had lost the perfect cube surrounding it. Escanor stated he asked Viviann if she could undo it, as he wanted to go for a walk. To no surprise Merlin began probing Escanor with questions about himself and sunshine and he began to realize that Merlin cared more about her research than his own well-being. He answered all the questions he could and his facial expression began changing dramatically. The sun was setting and Escanor had changed from his usual self into his weaker self. He was too shy to answer any more questions and he refused to. He had begun feeling depressed over the sudden realization that Merlin's goals were more important to her than her personal relationships, he was heartbroken. He watched from a small window all the sins having a good time. He envied them. They could socialize with others like that and he could not. But, everything changes and tomorrow might be different.

* * *

Next chapter: Gowther's acting up again!


	5. Gowther's Acting up Again!

**The Top 3**

1st: Escanor (2 wins)

2nd: Meliodas (1 win)

3rd: King (1 win)

* * *

The fifth day of the competitions came around and this one would be quite entertaining for the citizens of Liones. The goat's sin of Lust, Gowther, had chosen a dramatic act off. They all had to perform different scenarios, of their own choosing, and were required to be partnered with at least 1 other competitor. The teams were paired up like so; Diane, Merlin and Meliodas, Ban and King, Dreyfus, Hendrickson and Zaratras, Dale and Denzel and finally Gowther and Slader. Escanor's timid nature had forced him to forfeit this competition; he had an incredible case of stage fright and could not perform in front of more than 1 person. All the groups were given the entire day to prepare and would all gather at the center court; where they would perform their scenarios in front of all of Liones. For this challenge the competitors would be judged by the audience; allowing Bartras time to relax.

* * *

It was nearing 8:00Pm; the sin of Pride gazed out into the night sky. He was sitting at a small, wooden table, poems scattered across its surface and a quill in his right hand. He was writing another poem, when he got distracted by the commotion outside. He decided that he would watch the contest, leaving his poetry for later. The events that transpire yesterday at the Valley of Desire still plagued his mind. He could not believe Merlin would rather knowledge of his ability rather than any form of relationship. Although he knew this, his feelings for her wouldn't budge. He knew that he would never be with Merlin… but he hoped that the situation might change one day, this small sliver of hope was enough to keep Escanor mind at ease. His heart was shaken, but he still retained his sanity. Regardless of how he felt, the competition was about to start and he wanted to see everyone embarrassing themselves. A good laugh was what he needed right now.

 **Bartras** : " _Welcome to the 5th day of the competitions. Today, we asked the competitors to create their own scenarios and act out accordingly. They've been given props, costumes and their own minds in hopes to entertain you today. I would appreciate it if you gave them all a round of applause, to inspire the confidence they need._ " The King stated, the response from the audience was representative of how much they respected the king and how eager they were to watch the performances.

* _ **Extremely Loud Clapping**_ *

 **Bartras** : " _The first act will include the sins of Envy, Gluttony and Wrath._ " He stated, walking off the stage and allowing the competition to begin.

* * *

 **Attack on Liones**

 **Merlin** **(Narrator)** : " _This is a short story of how a young boy was walking peacefully through the streets of Liones. Not a single thing could bother him and he was more than happy watching the citizens go about their daily lives._ " She said, an air of joy in her voice, smiling towards the audience. Meliodas soon appeared on stage wearing clothes similar to Escanor's… but much smaller.

 **Meliodas** : " _I wonder what everyone's doing today. I suppose I could go greet the blacksmith or pass by the tavern and grab me some beer. Hmm… decisions, decisions._ " He said, placing his right on his chin.

 **Merlin** : " _The boy wondered what to do on that day, until humanity received a grim reminder that there are some things in this world that must be feared._ " She said.

 **Meliodas** : " _WHAT DO I DO? There's so many options and I can't think of a single one I want to do more… this is extremely frustrating!_ " he yelled. Nobody had seen Meliodas angry before and thus seeing him acting angry was quite a shock.

 **Merlin** : " _The boy decided he had no choice, but, to do all those things that day. He greeted the blacksmith, trained the great holy knight's son, found his friends and drank countless amount of beer in the kingdom's best tavern. He returned home intoxicated and immediately dropped on his bed. The next day would change that boy's life forever, a day where the peace was broken and the reality of the world would sink in._ " she said.

 **Meliodas** : " _Uhh… it's already morning… I feel horrible. Next time I won't drink that much… I promise. Oh crap, I was supposed to meet the Great Holy Knight at the northern gate, I'd better hurry._ " He said, running on the spot to simulate him getting from point A to point B.

 **Meliodas** : " _Just a few more minutes and I'll be there on time. Nothing could possibly go wrong today._ " he stated.

* _ **BOOM**_ *

 **Meliodas** : " _Me and my big mouth!_ " he said, an unimpressed expression on his face.

 **Merlin** : " _The boy froze and gazed at the northern gate. The metal doors were being battered repeatedly by a being of great power. The beings fists left imprints in the gate and were seemingly endless. Finally the beast broke through the gate and revealed itself to the boy below._ " She explained, in great detail. After Merlin's explanation, Diane came through the makeshift door wearing a giant lizard costume. She looked extremely threatening, but, her kind attitude was clearly not the best for being a giant monster.

 **Diane** : " _RAWR_!" she cried, in a rather cute voice.

 **Meliodas** : " _What is that?_ " he asked.

 **Diane** : " _RAWR_!" she cried, again with a cute voice.

 **Merlin** : " _The giant monster rampaged around the city, devouring the inhabitants and crushing the buildings. She used her tail to break down the kingdom's walls and then set her eyes on the young boy._ " She said. As she explained this, Diane had fun damaging more of the props that were on the ground, including eating human sized sweets that were made by a baker per request.

 **Diane** : " _Mmm… tasty! Oh, another snack!_ " she said, reaching down and picking Meliodas up.

 **Meliodas** : " _H-h-hold on, can't we talk about this?_ " he stammered, pretending to be fearful of the situation.

 **Diane** : " _OM!_ " she uttered, placing Meliodas's whole body into mouth, smiling, blushing and skipping back the way she came.

 **Merlin** : " _Unfortunately, the young boy was devoured by the giant monster… but his sacrifice filled the monster up, to where she left the remainder of the kingdom alone. The monster never appeared at the kingdom again, which meant she was just passing through. The young boy had simply been unlucky that day._ " He concluded.

 **The End!**

* _ **Applause**_ * the three sins returned to the stage, bowed and left. Behind the scenes Meliodas was scolding Diane for placing his entire body inside her mouth… she was only supposed to place his legs in her mouth and then walk off-stage… but, she got a little carried away.

 **Bartras** : " _The next act will feature the sins of Greed and Sloth_." He said.

* * *

 **The Thief and the King**

 **King** **(Narrator)** : "T _his is a story about a renowned rivalry in the kingdom of Liones. A drunken bandit and a lazy fairy king go about their everyday lives whilst continuously interacting with one another. Here is one of the scenes we have chosen._ " He explained. The stage lit up and Ban was seen lying on a large chair with a mountain of toys. King had decided to retell the events of that day.

 **Ban** : " _Ah… this wine is the best!_ " he yelled. To simulate the fact that Ban was drunk, he was ACTUALLY drunk.

 **King (Character)** : " _Ban, what's with all the toys?_ " he asked, confused at the large mass of teddies.

 **Ban** : " _I stole them from around the village… it was fun._ * **hic** *" he said, waving his arms in the air.

 **King** : " _What? I can't believe you would do something like that! Think of all the children who are missing their toys!"_ he blubbered, acting the scene out exactly the way it happened.

 **Ban** : " _If you wanna do something about it, you'll have to fight me…Zzzz._ " He said, falling asleep as he spoke. King then turned to the audience and continued his role as narrator.

 **King** **(Narrator)** : " _The Fox's sin of Greed, Ban, fell asleep shortly after this conversation took place. The Grizzly's sin of Sloth, King, decided he would settle their argument in the only way he knew how. He would find a wolf off in the forest and drag it back towards the sin of Greed, who would be mauled by it for countless hours. During that time the sin of Sloth, returned all the toys the former sin had stolen to the children that missed them. However he wasn't out of the woods yet._ " He explained, some of the children in the crowd realizing what happened that night and smiling at him. It was weird to talk about himself in the third person though, he wasn't use to it. He floated back over to Ban.

 **King** **(Character)** : " _Captain, I'm back!_ " he yelled, looking for any sign of Meliodas.

 **Ban** : " _Yo, King… do you know what happened to my collection of toys?_ " he asked, rubbing his eyes.

 **King** : " _Yes I returned them to the children you stole them from._ " He responded confidently and unwilling to let Ban intimidate him.

 **Ban** : " _That's fine, I was getting bored of them anyway… oh one more thing, do you know why there was a wolf chewing on my head?_ " he asked, holding up a battered wolf or in this case a prop of a dead wolf.

 **Meliodas** : " _King left it in your room while you were sleeping to teach you a lesson._ " Meliodas yelled, Ban had asked him to help out before getting drunk.

 **King** : " _Wait captain... you weren't supposed to tell him that!_ " he cried, waving his hands around his head and looking terrified.

 **Ban** : " _Hey, King. Let's go for a walk!_ " he sang, grabbing King by the collar and dragging him off the stage.

 **Meliodas** **(narrator)** : " _The sin of Greed decided to enact his revenge by paying the sin of Sloth back tenfold. He found the remainder of the wolves in the forest, tied King up and dropped him inside their den. He left King there for 3 hours and upon his return he had been severely injured by wolves. I guess that will teach him… right?_ " he continued.

 **The End**

* _ **Applause***_

 **Bartras** : " _Thank you both for your performance. The third act will be performed by Lords Dreyfus, Hendrickson and Zaratras_." He said.

* * *

 **Brother, my Brother**

This scenario was basically a quarrel between both Dreyfus and Zaratras, which Hendrickson narrated. It was a stupid fight they had when they were kids and was quite a comedic act. It listed all the ways they used to get revenge on one another including embarrassing them in front of their crushes, playing pranks and getting the other in trouble and informing their father. The end consisted of the brothers coming to a truce after one of their pranks went too far.

* _ **Applause**_ *

 **Bartras:** " _The fourth act will feature Sir Dale and Lord Denzel._ " He said.

* * *

 **Have you met Denzel?**

This act showcased Dale as the narrator, talking about a number of different moments in Lord Denzel's life. Informing the crowd of who he was and what he had been through. It was an extremely self-centered act all about Denzel. No wonders Dale chose to name it what he did. The ending sequence was very anticlimactic as it ended with him talking of his experiences giving an audience his life's story. It was by far the most boring play and the audience were clearly not amused.

* _ **Slight Clapping**_ *

 **Escanor** : " _That man's selfishness is worse than mine in the day… and that's saying something_." He noted. It was odd for Escanor to compare someone to himself, especially his cursed state which nobody liked; however Lord Denzel's prideful monologue deserved it.

 **Bartras** : " _The final act will be performed by the sin of Lust and Lord Slader._ " He said.

* * *

 **Lust for Love**

The stage went dark and when the stage illuminated once again, there were two figures on the stage. Slader was leaning against a make shift building, wearing his usual clothing and his trademark mask. He held a red rose in his hand and gazed at it intensely. Gowther was standing at the center of the stage, facing the audience and wearing his large suit of armor. He had made a few adjustments with Merlin's help to where his armor had been fitted with a pink dress and a bouquet of flowers upon his head.

 **Gowther (Monotone Narrator)** : " _This is a story of a lonely traveler seeking love. He happens to find a princess with a rare skin condition, forcing her to wear a suit of armor. This story is all about how true love conquers all._ " He said, the other sins looking at him in shock. This was clearly Slader's idea, as Gowther had no data pertaining to love.

 **Slader** : " _I wish with all my heart that I could find someone to love. I may not be the richest, the strongest or the smartest man alive, but I know I am the kindest. It is truly a shame how little woman value kindness, it truly hurts my chances to fall in love. Not to mention, I still have this awful scar on my face… it pains me to wear this mask to hide my shame._ " He said dramatically. He proceeded to stand up straight and hold the rose to his face.

 **Slader** : "I _suppose I am like this rose… my heart is kind although I do have thorns to protect myself from harm._ " He continued. He placed the rose in a vase upon a barrel and walked towards the center of the stage.

 **Slader** : " _Can I truly find love with all these flaws of mine?_ " he asked, dropping to his knees. He looked as though he had given up, until he heard a faint scream. He lifted his head up and ran behind the make shift building.

* **Crash** * * **Smash** * * **Bang** * * **Boom** *

The sounds made indicated a struggle and a few seconds after the sounds ended, both Gowther and Slader appeared.

 **Slader** : " _Are you OK? Did he hurt you?_ " he asked, concern clearly showing in his voice.

 **Gowther** : " _I will be fine, it is not the first time someone has attacked me like so._ " He responded.

 **Slader** : " _If it makes you feel safer I can walk you home_." He suggested.

 **Gowther** : " _That would be lovely, I thank you brave sir knight._ " He replied.

They both walked over to the far right side of the stage where they both sat down to watch the stars. This sparked a conversation between the two of them.

 **Gowther** : " _Why do you wear a mask? I am sure a man like you would have a handsome face… why the secrecy?_ " he asked, with a confused tone.

 **Slader** : " _It is to hide a scar that I received whilst on the battlefield. It shows my lack of skill and will to fight and I believe it to be a shameful scar upon my face. I cannot allow people to see my shame and that is why I wear this mask._ " He answered, looking away from Gowther before responding to the question.

 **Gowther** : " _I too wear this armor to hide my shame. At least that is what I tell people…_ " he stated, catching Slader's attention.

 **Slader** : " _What do you mean by that?_ " he asked, his curiosity spiked and he was eager to know the truth.

 **Gowther** : " _I used to be a beautiful woman who was envied across the land. Then I was cursed by an evil witch. My body became plagued with a disease; making my skin pale and in some places rugged and deformed. My only solace is that I have a kind heart in which to talk to others… but that can no longer satisfy me._ " He stated. His arms hung low and he began twiddling his fingers.

 **Slader** : " _In that case I will go and find the evil witch and convince her to remove this curse._ " He yelled, making Gowther feel more relaxed.

 **Gowther** : " _Really? Why would you do such a thing to someone you've barely just met_?" He questioned, seeing a clear lack of reason to Slader's proposal.

 **Slader** : " _This may sound strange… but I believe it was destiny that we met. We are both similar in many ways, but, we also deal with our shame differently. I may be jumping to conclusions… but I think I love you._ " He said, turning to face the moon as he ended his small speech.

 _* **Audience Gasp**_ *

 **Gowther** : " _You… love me? I'm not sure what to say…_ " he stammered.

 **Slader** : " _You need not say anything, I will return once the witch has released you from this curse._ " He stated.

 **Gowther** : " _Wait!_ " he yelled, grabbing Slader by the hand. He hugged him tightly and began to make crying sounds.

 **Slader** : " _What is it?_ " he said in a confused voice.

 **Gowther:** _"I love you too!_ " he declared. Slader looked shocked and was overjoyed at what he heard.

 _ ***Audience Gasps Again***_

 **Gowther** : " _Before you go let me see your face._ " He said, slowly removing Slader's mask.

 **Slader** : " _Okay, but after this I must make haste to remove this curse._ " He said, holding his mask in one hand to show Gowther and the audience his face.

 **Gowther** : " _I knew you were handsome, now please come back safely._ " He said, continuing to hug Slader.

 **Slader** : " _I will._ " He replied. They both stared at each other intensely for what seemed like an eternity.

 **Both** : " _I Love you!_ " they said. The stage then went dark and the final act came to a close.

 **The End!**

* _ **WILD APPLAUSE**_ *

 **Bartras** : " _Well done... well done. I believe we all know who won this round. Lords Gowther and Lord Slader are the winners of the fifth day. Congratulations to them and all the other competitors. We hope to see you tomorrow for one of the more suspenseful competitions: a fight festival. Lord Escanor will be competing in this contest and if he is declared the victor he will immediately receive the first place prize. However second place and third place must also be decided._ " He stated, watching as the competitors and audience returned to their everyday lives.

 **Diane** : " _That was really fun! I really like pretending._ " She said, with a massive grin across her face. Truth is she really liked pretending with the captain.

 **King** : " _Y-y-yeah, actin was rather fun wasn't it?_ " He stated.

 **Gowther** : " _Indeed, I require only two more victories to ensure first place._ " He said, whilst striking a pose.

 **Ban and Meliodas:** " _Let's go have a drink!"_ They yelled.

 **Everyone (except Merlin)** : " _YEAH!_ " They all screamed.

 **Merlin** : " _I'll pass, I'm going to see how Escanor's doing._ " She said. As she left Diane gave her a suspicious look whilst Meliodas gave her a skeptical stare. Merlin's nature was quite selfish and they both suspected she was using Escanor for her own deeds.

* * *

 **Escanor's cell**

 **Merlin** : " _Hello, Escanor, how are you doing?_ " she asked.

 **Escanor** : " _I-I-I'm doing okay; I just finished watching all of you perform from the window. It was pretty good._ " He stuttered, finding it hard to get a sentence out. She did catch him off guard after all.

 **Merlin** : " _Which was your favorite?"_ she asked.

 **Escanor** : " _Gowther's was, it really encompassed the true essence of love in a play._ " He responded. This answer left Merlin speechless.

 **Merlin** **(thoughts)** : " _That's odd; usually he would say mine was the best without a doubt. Is there something wrong with him or is he simply not that deeply entranced by me?_ " she wondered. She had always thought that Escanor would do anything for her and judging by his answer it seemed as though he was learning. This was unacceptable if she wanted more information on his ability as he would be unwilling to participate in her tests.

 **Escanor** : " _Either way, I'm going to get back to writing some poetry. If you had anything else to say, you might as well tell me now._ " He declared, sitting in his wooden chair and picking up his quill.

 **Merlin** : " _Who are you writing this poem for?_ " she asked.

 **Escanor** : " _Well… it's actually a child's poem for the princesses. After that I might write a poem about each of the sins and I'll stop with one about a girl I like. Since I already have tons of poems about you I can simply pick my favorite out of that pile and I won't have to work as much._ " He said, smiling at her. Merlin was officially confused. What happened to him so suddenly that would change his way of looking at her, unless this was another doing of sunshine? Perhaps he had simply matured with his ability and no longer found her attractive? She left the room curious as ever about the mysterious sin of Pride. Although he realized she noticed his change, he did not appear bothered by it. He walked over to a bowl of fruit and grabbed an apple. He took a bite and then began writing his poems.

 **Escanor** : " _Tomorrow, I'll show you how much rage you caused yesterday, Merlin, but for now I'll do my best on this for the princesses._ " He stated, showing his true colors. He was angry that Merlin had been toying with his emotions and he was finally prepared to vent his frustration.

* * *

Next Chapter: Liones Fight Festival


	6. The Liones Fight Festival

**The Top 3?**

 _ **Escanor** (2 wins)_

 _ **Meliodas** (1 win) [Mel's done better than King]_

 _ **King** (1 win) [King has done better overall than Gowther and Slader]_

* * *

Finally, the sixth day of seven and the competitors are almost exhausted. This upcoming fighting tournament would be a good stress reliever for everyone and it would provide everyone with a very popular sport. However, this day, the king made a special announcement… that Escanor would be participating in this tournament and that if he won the final tournament would determine second place. If too many people held a single win, however they would those competitors would play another game; rock, paper, scissor. Finishing his announcement he deliberately told everyone to keep within a few kilometers of the area, this would ensure nobody gets killed.

This contest would be similar to a fight festival, in Byzel, where everyone could watch the battles unfold. Merlin had chosen this contest to test Escanor's strength against that of the other sins, but, it would seem Escanor's suspicions of her will destroy those plans. The sixth contest will take place a few miles from Liones, within walking distance of the town… but far enough for all the contestants to go all out… well, most of them. There were several rules and variations for this contest, specifically the use of magical abilities was forbidden, except for a few contestants who needed to use magic, the following people had other rules attached to them:

 _ **Merlin** \- No 'Perfect Cube'_

 _ **King** \- No 'Form 4, Sunflower'_

 _ **Diane** \- No 'Mother Catastrophe'_

 _ **Ban** \- If you receive a killer blow or your opponent lasts longer than 3 minutes, you lose._

 _ **Escanor** \- No 'Sacred treasure', killing, dismembering, stabbing or disemboweling… and no 'Sunshine'._

* * *

All the competitors arrived an hour early, it was about 5AM. This meant Escanor was still his weak self, thus he could not bring his sacred treasure anyway. Since there are only 13 competitors, Lord Denzel suggested he add three of his own knights from his order. They weren't very strong, in fact they did not exceed a power level of 800, but, he wanted to add them nonetheless. The king allowed his request to pass and to the tournament Arden, Deldrey and Death pierce were added. With all 16 competitors arriving early, the king decided he would begin the matches early as well, this proved problematic for Escanor and Merlin, who would miss her opportunity for more information.

Regardless of that the first round would begin. The following matches would take place, in round 1:, Gowther vs Arden, Meliodas vs Ban, Diane vs Dale, Denzel vs Death Pierce, Dreyfus vs Zaratras, Merlin vs Hendrickson, Slader vs Deldrey and King vs Escanor. The first match between Gowther and Arden would begin shortly, the time until sunrise was ticking away slowly. Escanor was very anxious and when he looked over at King, he noticed King was undeniably confident, judging by his rape face. This scared Escanor a little, but, more so he was worried about someone else.

 **Escanor** : " _Hey, Dale… do you really intend on fighting Diane?_ " he asked, worried that the knight might be in over his head.

 **Dale** : " _To be honest, I knew my chances of getting paired up against a sin were high, but… you're right, I can't defeat her. I may disappoint my children, but I would rather avoid a battle I cannot hope to win._ " He said, lowering his head in shame and tears rolling down his face.

 **Escanor** : "I _t takes great strength in order to fight for the people you love, but, it takes a real man to admit he's outmatched. I've seen the way your children look up to you… you won't disappoint them, because they love their papa._ " he said, slowly walking away from Dale.

 **Dale** : " _L-l-lord Escanor? Thank you!_ " he whispered, raising his head and standing up straight. How peculiar it was that Escanor be the one to comfort him, maybe he wasn't the monster everyone said he was. Anyway, back towards the arena, a huge crowd had gathered to watch the madness unfold. The first battle was literally seconds from starting and both Gowther and Arden had taken their places. Bartas, deciding he had not done enough for the last few competitions, personally riled up the audience; it was almost as if he knew what to say.

 **Bartas** : " _Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Liones fight festival. Today I present to you the first match of the first round. In the right corner, the Goat's sin of Lust, Gowther, and in the left corner member of the Pleiades of the azure sky, Arden. Ready, set and Go!"_ he yelled. _  
_

* * *

 **Arden vs Gowther**

The fight between Arden and Gowther went by extremely quickly. Arden fired a large number of arrows, close to 15, at Gowther only to realize his immediate disadvantage… Gowther's wearing armor. Gowther rushed towards him, attempting to knock him out of the ring, however Arden was very nimble and ran circles around Gowther, literally, whilst looking for weak spots in his armor. In took him a few seconds to realize that Gowther was following his movements, so he darted behind the sin of Lust. Gowther reacted to his opponent's movements, in a peculiar fashion, by twisting his armour's head backwards. This caught Arden off guard and severely shocked him, before Gowther was able to grab him and throw him out of the ring.

 **Bartas** : " _The winner of the first match is Gowther._ " He declared. Panning over to the line-up of contestants, the next two competitors were riling each other up.

 **Ban** : " _Cap'n, it's our turn!_ " he said, excitingly.

 **Meliodas** : " _I'm not gonna go easy on you Ban, get ready to lose!_ " he said in a cocky tone.

 **Ban** : " _Bring it!_ " he replied, swaying from side to side as he approached the ring.

 **Bartas** : " _The second match of the first round will now begin. In the right corner, is the captain of the seven deadly sins and the Dragon's sin of Wrath, Meliodas, and, in the left corner, the Fox's sin of Greed, Ban. On your marks, get set and Go!"_ he said. _  
_

* * *

 **Ban vs Meliodas**

This fight turned into the arm wrestling match Ban wanted to have on the second day, but couldn't because Escanor destroyed him. Meliodas had won the last round they had and held a record of 360/719 wrestles. Ban was looking to tie up the score and take the lead, although they discussed that if either one of them would get a 2 win lead that they would be declared the winner and they would restart their contest once again. This time, Meliodas wanted to win very badly and wasn't about to let Ban beat him on such an important day. The two of them dropped to the floor and locked hands. As they heard the word "Go" the small arena beneath them sunk. Their determination to defeat the other was so intense that they began cracking the terrain around the arena and managed to snap the arena itself in half. They began yelling at the other and as they continued exerting their strength at each other, Meliodas noticed the danger to the crowd that this arm wrestle was having. As a result he activated his demon mark, giving more strength so he could easily defeat Ban limiting the amount of possible problems. This didn't go to plan as he smashed Ban into the arena, a chunk of it flipped off towards the competitors, specifically where Dale was standing with Guila and Zeal.

When Dale noticed the chunk flying at him, he didn't have time to react. He was in no particular danger from the chunk, but, his children were in front of him and they would be severely hurt if they got hit. Nobody could have expected what happened next and why it happened nobody knows, but miraculously the chunk obliterated into a thousand pieces, and didn't make it anywhere near the family of three. Although nobody would know the truth about the mysterious, the mystery was quite obvious, if you were looking for a particular someone. As Meliodas was being declared the winner and Ban was recovering from his body, everyone gathered around the broken chunk. This prompted the next fight, which led King to go looking for Diane, who had gone to ran into the forest for some reason.

Truthfully, she had seen a spider that Lord Denzel had planted on her leg and she freaked out. Inside the forest, she found a lake. She scooped her hands together and placed some water on her leg, hoping to wash off the body and blood of a smashed spider. The only person to realize what happened that day was Diane, because of what she saw. On the opposite side of the lake, she saw Escanor, sitting on the ridge of the lake with his left arm in the water. When he pulled it out, her expression changed and she put her hand up to her mouth in shock. When the chunk was flying at Dale's family, he rushed towards it and shoulder bashed it, with his left arm. This resulted in several fractures, slashes and an extreme amount of pain rushing through Escanor's body. He lifted up his head and noticed Diane across the lake; he lifted his index finger to his lips in an attempt to convey he did not want people knowing about this. She nodded her head and left the forest to compete in the tournament.

 **King** : " _There you are Diane; we've been looking for you. Dale said he didn't want to win by disqualification, so I suppose you need to rush over there and fight him._ " he stated, hurrying Diane over to a newly constructed arena, almost as if they knew they needed a spare.

 **Diane:** " _Oh… uh, yeah I'll go right now…_ " she muttered, she had something more important on her mind. She arrived at the arena with Dale standing across from her. However, as he told Escanor, Dale conceded the match and Diane walked off slightly disappointed. She then came up with a great idea.

* * *

 **In the forest**

Escanor was now lying next to lake in an intense amount of pain. His arm had swollen up in three different places and it was clear when looking at his shoulder than it had been dislocated. He could not participate in any of the upcoming matches in this state, but, if the sun rolled over while he was like this, he had no idea what might happen. He heard rustling across the lake and a few heavy thumps. He opened his eyes and to his surprise he saw Diane looming over him. She bent down and puffed up her cheeks.

 **Diane** : "Y _ou really overdid it when you protected Dale and his family… didn't you?_ " She asked. He was surprised she figured out that he was responsible for breaking the mysterious flying chunk of doom (That's what the misfits, mainly Hauser, are calling it).

 **Escanor** : " _Ugh, why did you come back? I thought you'd be talking to the others or something…_ " he asked, clearly confused to why she was there. When she lifted up a box of medical supplies and placed it next to Escanor, he was extremely surprised. She had actually taken the time to help him out… something that nobody had done before. He couldn't help but smile, a few tears trickled down his face as he lifted his body up, fighting against the pain.

 **Diane** : " _What exactly do I do? I've never treated someone before_." She asked, showing Escanor a level of compassion he had only dreamed of having.

 **Escanor** : " _Well… I've got a few fractures and I need to stop the bleeding. But, first I need to relocate my left arm, you'll need to push it up and then to right._ " He responded, this gave her some information on how to help.

 **Diane** : " _Ok!_ " she said, sitting on the ground. She grabbed Escanor with her right hand and used her left hand to see the problem. Without any warning, she relocated his arm and a surge of pain rushed through his body.

 **Escanor:** " _Son of a Bitch!_ " he cried, rolling around in pain. Since this happened in her hand, he almost fell to the ground and cause himself more injuries, however Diane made sure he didn't.

 **Diane** : " _Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?_ " she asked in a panicked state. Escanor shook his head and gave Diane a thumbs-up, reliving her and giving her incentive to continue the treatment. In front of her she had placed the medical box and all of the herbs and bandages Escanor needed to treat him. He asked for her help mashing the herbs together and applied them to his slash wounds, which stopped the bleeding. He then managed, with help, to bandage his arm up, although the accommodated for his day form, not his night form. After fixing his arm, Diane picked up the supplies and Escanor, and then returned to competition. By the time they had returned Lord Denzel had beaten Death pierce, because the latter conceded and Dreyfus's sword skills were defeated by his Zaratras's experience and speed. Merlin had also managed to defeat Hendrickson is quite the flashy way with a number of spell combination. The next fight was between Slader and Deldrey and the contestants were already waiting for Bartas to start the match.

 **Diane** : " _Hey Escanor… I want you to do something for me. I think it will be funny._ " She said.

 **Escanor** : " _Okay, what is it?_ "

 **Bartas** : " _In the 7th match of round 1, we have Slader, my personal bodyguard against Deldrey, of the azure sky. Ready, Set, Go!_ " he said.

* * *

 **Slader vs Deldrey **

The battle started, Slader darting towards Deldrey, with his massive blade, and the latter surprised him, using her ability 'Love drive'. Nobody knew that she had used her ability, because she was a relatively new knight, thus she managed to cheat in this match. This sent Slader into a romantic fit, where he could not bring himself to harm her in any way. This allowed her to persuade him into jumping out of the ring, or at least walking over to the edge of the ring and letting her kick him out. So far the first two fights had been excellent, but, the others had all been rather disappointing. However, the next fight was one people were quite anxious for.

 **Bartas** : "T _hank you both for the fight. I would now like to present the final match of round 1. In the left corner, the Grizzly's sin of Sloth, King, and, in the right corner stands the Lion's sin of Pride, Escanor._ " He said, waving his hand at King and then to an empty spot.

 **King** : "I _t would seem Escanor is giving up the first match_ " he said, chuckling to himself. There was no way Escanor could beat him… there was at least 10 minutes to sunrise and the fight could not go on that long.

 **Diane** : " _Hold on, I've got him!_ " she said, waving her left arm in air to get their attention. She then crouched down, placing Escanor on the arena and then standing back up.

 **Escanor** : " _Thank you."_ He said, smiling at her. Out of all the sins, Diane was definitely his favorite right now.

 **King** : " _What the hell were you doing with Diane? You'd better not have hurt her!_ " he yelled. His ears were fuming with smoke and his face turned bright red.

 **Escanor** : " _We just bathed together in a nearby lake._ " He said, watching the sin of Sloth lose his mind.

 **King** : " _WHAT! YOU BASTARD!_ " he yelled, flames appeared in his eyes, as his face turned a brighter shade of red than Ban's armor. He was absolutely furious that they had bathed together and that he had not done so… well with her more mature body, that is. He looked at Escanor with a stare of perpetual anger, until the sin of Pride uttered something else.

 **Escanor** : " _Kidding!_ " he said, using his right hand to rub the back of his head, whilst he too blushed slightly. The fact that Escanor had joked around with King was actually Diane's idea, he owed her after what she did so she thought it would be funny to joke around with people and reaction to King exploding was priceless. She found it unbearable to watch his reaction and struggled to keep her composure throughout Escanor's act, she just couldn't hold back her laughter.

 **Diane** : " _HAHAHA… he got you good King_." she laughed. She and King were very good friends, one might say best friends, however she did enjoy messing with him every once in a while. For some reason it made her happy to see her caring about her, even though she loved Meliodas.

 **Bartas** : " _Ready, Set, Go!_ " he yelled.

* * *

 **King vs Escanor**

 **King** : " _I'm gonna kill you!_ " he yelled, using Chastifol to attack him in several different methods. All Escanor could do was dodge and cry. In this mindset he didn't want to hit King, but, he realized he had to.

* _ **Bumblebee**_ * King cried, smashing into the arena with his sacred treasure and somehow unable to hit Escanor, who continued dodging him.

* _ **Form** **5, increase**_ * he said, this time splitting Chastifol into hundreds of small daggers. Even the large number of daggers could not hit Escanor, so King decided to use something else. He lifted his head up towards where Escanor was standing as he knew he could not evade this. He began applying Disaster to Escanor's body, trying to incapacitate him with his bodily functions. Escanor noticed this and that King had let his guard down. He hesitated momentarily and then disappeared into thin air. King was shocked to see Escanor reappear in front of him, as he was 20 feet in the air. The latter suddenly swing his right arm around to King and connected his fist into King's stomach. Escanor's power level was at 300, but, that was all towards his physical strength. King's physical strength is roughly about 5 or less. Getting hit by Escanor wasn't enough to hurt him substantially, except that King found himself knocked out of the ring, moments later. Escanor had beaten him before dawn, because he took advantage of King's weak physique and confidence. This would surprise everyone who was fighting, especially because Escanor's left arm was already injured.

 **Bartas** : " _The winner is Escanor! Now the contestants will have 5 minutes to rest and the second round will begin. The matches are: Gowther vs Meliodas, Diane vs Denzel, Zaratras vs Merlin and Deldrey vs Escanor. I hope you rest well, for the next round will be even tougher._ " He said, sending all of the contestants into the waiting area.

* * *

 **Waiting Area**

 **Ban** : " _Hey King, you got beaten by the weakest competitor!_ " he joked, laughing around at King's miserable defeat.

 **King** : " _It wasn't my fault, I don't know what happened, but, he suddenly appeared in front of me._ " He replied, clearly not understanding the situation.

 **Gowther** : " _He jumped very quickly and punched you quite hard. He did this within 15 seconds which is very impressive for Escanor._ " He stated, giving them the factual view of things.

 **Merlin** : " _Interesting… to think Escanor would do something like this before Dawn, it's quite fascinating. I wonder how he'll handle Deldrey, surely he should have no problems with her, especially considering the sun is about to rise._ " She said. Unbeknownst to her that Deldrey was listening to the conversation and smiling.

 **Deldrey** : " _You'll be quite surprised when your pet is defeated, Boar's sin of Gluttony. I'll make sure he never sets his eyes on you again and he's my type… fufufufu._ " She said, walking and giggling her way to Lord Denzel.

 **Diane** : " _Are you okay, Escanor? You can't move your left arm, right?"_ she asked, concerned for the sin of Pride.

 **Escanor** : " _My left arm is busted and although I can't move it, the right one is all I need. Besides, I'm not going to lose against Deldrey, because I need to win these competitions… I need to do something important._ " He replied, clearing her doubt and giving her some interesting information.

 **Diane:** " _What do you need to do?_ " she asked curiously.

 **Escanor** : " _I need to travel to a lake that lies in the middle of a large forest. It is a legendary lake which can answer any question. Merlin mentioned this lake to me, but, I already knew it existed… I've just haven't found it._ " He stated.

 **Diane** : " _COOL! Can I come? I have a question I need to ask it._ " She asked, hoping the answer was yes.

 **Escanor** : " _You can't, sorry. If I leave the sins temporarily I'll be doing so by myself. I doubt they'd let you go with me._ " He responded, her curiosity diminished to sadness.

 **Escanor** : " _But, if you tell me what you want to know and I find the lake, I'll ask it your question over mine. So, what's your question?_ " He said, her eyes lit up like a beacon as she grabbed him with both hands and began hugging him tightly to her cheek.

 **Diane** : " _Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! My question is: 'Is it possible to revive someone?'_ " She said, looking at Escanor, whose face looked slightly confused. He nodded and agreed to ask the lake this question.

 **Bartas** : " _The second round will begin in 30 seconds, could all contestants gather round for the next four matches._ " He asked. The competitors lined up in front of the waiting area and both Gowther and Meliodas walked over to the arena. The next match would be between two more sins, but, it would not take that long.

* * *

 **Gowther vs Meliodas**

Gowther himself analyzes Meliodas fighting capabilities before the fight and had already assessed that without the use of 'Invasion' he could not defeat his captain. Nonetheless he was asked by Merlin to fight with everything he had and reassured that his armor, if broken, would be repaired. The fight began with Meliodas lunging at Gowther unarmed; not using Lostvayne was a personal preference for this fight. He swung both his fists at Gowther many times before the latter retaliated with a very large swipe. He knocked his captain away and looked at the damage inflicted on his chest, Meliodas had only left a few dents and Gowther was still fully operational. The sin of Lust darted towards his captain and unleashed a flurry of swipes in order to bring his captain down. Meliodas dodged all but one of the oncoming blows, the one he could not avoid because it blindsided him. Gowther stopped swiping and focused all his mass into a single punch directed down at Meliodas, who was sent smashing face first into the ground. Gowther returned to his normal position and did a pose, but, Meliodas climbed out of the hole his comrade had made and counterattacked. The sin of Wrath sent a barrage of punches that Gowther could not avoid, creating more dents in his armor and eventually breaking a piece of Gowther's chest-plate off. This preoccupied Gowther whilst Meliodas dashed underneath him picked him up and threw him out of the ring. Gowther landed face down into a small ditch and his armored body got stuck. His armored body was last seen kicking his legs and asking for assistance. This led to Meliodas victory and for the next match to start.

 **Bartas** : " _The winner is Meliodas and the next match will begin immediately. The second match is between the Serpent's sin of Envy, Diane and Lord Denzel!_ " he stated, awaiting the next two competitors to arrive. Diane was still worried about Escanor's condition, but he assured her that he would survive. The herbs he had placed in his arm had enough healing properties to stop an extremely powerful poison, so acting as painkillers would be an easy task.

 **Bartas** : " _In the left corner, stands the Serpent's sin of Envy, Diane, and in the right corner is Lord Denzel. Ready, Set and Go!_ "

* * *

 **Diane vs Denzel**

Diane had brought Gideon to the battle and Lord Denzel had procured himself a rapier. Both weapons, like the knights holding them were complete opposites. Diane was a cinnamon roll, who looked like she could kill you and Lord Denzel was an absolute ass hole, who looked seemingly harmless. Diane swung Gideon at Lord Denzel, the latter of which jumped over her swing. He was confident in his ability to outmaneuver Diane, but, he didn't take into account the difference between their power levels. As Denzel jumped over Gideon, the air pressure from her swing pushed Denzel backwards. He had underestimated his opponent. Diane began smiling at the little man's attempt to beat her, continuing to swing Gideon around with great speed. Denzel did his best to dodge all her attacks, but, the air pressure was throwing him off. This eventually led Denzel to make a crucial mistake attacking Diane's left arm. Her left hand released Gideon and she grabbed him. Smiling at him rather sweetly, she began to squeeze him tightly. She then threw him out of the ring at Arden and Death pierce who were shocked to see their leader defeated so easily. Denzel had always disliked the seven deadly sins and his request, if he won (which he can't), would have been to eliminate their order and have his Pleiades of the azure sky replace them. This dislike bore a hatred that his comrades shared towards the sins. Diane walked out of the arena and sat back down at the waiting area.

 **Bartas** : " _The winner is Diane! Could the Great holy knight and Lady Merlin please make their way to the arena, for the third match of round 2?_ " he asked. Merlin teleported to the arena and Zaratras walked over to it like a normal person. Judging by their power levels; Zaratras's being an even 3000, whilst Merlin's is at 4710, you would assume that Merlin would win in an instant. However, different situations force changes in these levels and, because Merlin is limited to what spells she can use, she must create a new strategy against the GHK.

 **Merlin** : " _Good luck, Sir Zaratras, you may need it._ " She said, smiling as usual.

* * *

 **Zaratras vs Merlin **

The fight began much slower than the others as Zaratras drew his sword. He was not allowed to harm Merlin with the blade, but, he could deflect her magic with it. At least, that was his plan until he realized Merlin was not moving around. He chose to let his instincts handle the fight and darted towards her. She floated to the side and avoided his attack, but Zaratras swung his body to the side and swiped the side of his sword into Merlin's stomach. She coughed up a little blood, but, her injuries were minor compared to the trap she had set up.

* _ **Combustion Wave**_ * she said, as Zaratras's sword began to glow. The blade, hilt, pommel and even Zaratras's hand were now glowing bright orange. He prepared himself for a massive surge of energy and thought of an excellent tactic. He chose to throw his sword at Merlin who looked incredibly shocked. She floated away from his sword, but, both the sword and Zaratras's right arm suddenly exploded. His arm was battered, bruised and burnt, but, the great holy knight could still fight. Merlin had sustained some injuries as well, other than the blow from before, the armor on her arms had shattered and left her right arm bleeding slightly and her left arm bruised. She looked down at the consequences of taking the GHK lightly and chose to mount an offensive. She quickly combined a flurry of powerful spells in order to knock Zaratras's off guard.

* _ **Almighty Tempest**_ * she said, creating a large gust of wind, which Zaratras avoided.

* ** _Thunder Strike_** * she continued, firing a bolt of lightning down at him. Because of his small bouts with Gil, he dodged this attack as well.

* ** _Blazing_ _Blast_** * she formed a large ball of fire and shot it at her opponent, who slid under it. This made her smile as her trap had worked.

* ** _Elemental_ _Discharge_** * she said, combining all the types of magic she could use and launched it at Zaratras. This attack was massive, large enough to cover the entire arena, and without his sword he was unable to deflect it. The GHK accepted his loss with a sigh and took the discharge head on. His body was badly damaged from Merlin's magic, but, he showed no signs of holding a grudge. Gil came over to him and starting crying, thinking his dad was going to die. Zaratras reassured him that he was invincible and that even if he lost, he would never die. This brightened his mood as he followed the medics to their tent.

 **Bartas** : " _The winner is Merlin! Will the final match up of round 2 please make their way to the arena?_ " he asked. Escanor walked towards the arena and Deldrey bumped into him on the way there. She began exerting her ability and she watched as Escanor's eyes began to widen. Without even making an appearance she could easily win this fight. The only problem is that dawn had passed and Escanor's attitude would change quite dramatically. The only thing that would remain the same is that he still cared for Diane, as a friend.

 **Bartas** : " _In the right corner, you may not recognize him, is the Lion's sin of Pride, Escanor and in the left corner is Deldrey, of the azure sky._ " He said. He pointed at the spectators and immediately they began to count down.

 **Audience** : " _READY, SET AND GO!_ " they yelled. Bartas got so into commentating that he accidentally threw out his back… Slader and Hugo rushed to his aid, whilst the fight went underway.

* * *

 **Escanor vs Deldrey**

The fight began and neither person moved. They just looked at each other with a lustful intent, clearly showing interest in one another. Deldrey walked over to Escanor and stood barely three feet in front of him. She began feeling his muscles and essentially fangirled over his body.

 **Deldrey** : " _I'm so glad I got to fight you… your absolutely my type. It truly is a shame you cannot defeat me with my magic controlling you._ " She said, swooning over Escanor.

 **Escanor** : " _Do you think I care about you or something?_ " he asked. A look of horror appeared on her face as she stared at Escanor.

 **Deldrey** : " _You shouldn't joke around like that… you really scared me._ " She said, looking fairly annoyed at him. Escanor bent down and began whispering in her ear.

 **Escanor** : " _I'm completely serious… I'm only letting you fondle my body so I can stall for time. I already grasped the concept of your ability and know two things. The first is that if I close my eyes it won't work on me and the second is that if I don't care about love then there's no way you can catch me in your trance._ " He said, smiling slightly at the sudden change in her expression.

 **Deldrey:** " _Hold on… time out, I quit, okay!_ " she pleaded, but, Escanor had already made up his mind. He walked towards her; a piercing gaze froze her in place. The next thing she felt was Escanor lightly punching her in the stomach, blood spurted out her mouth as she was sent flying into a tree located in the waiting area.

 **Bartas** : "T _he winner is Escanor! We will take another small break and regroup for the semi-finals. The first round will feature Meliodas vs Diane and the second will have Merlin vs Escanor._ " He stated. Merlin was not concerned in the slightest, knowing that Escanor could not hit her. However, she wondered who she would fight in the finals… after all, with their sacred treasures on hand, either of them could win.

 **Escanor** : " _I suppose I'm not your type now, am i?_ " he chuckled, smiling as he left the arena and began relaxing in the waiting area. He sat down next to the medical tent and began patching up his left arm some more. The bandages had broken off due to his increase in size and muscle mass and he needed to address this as his main concern.

 **Meliodas** : " _Well… looks like it's a battle between us Diane, nishihihihi._ " He said, with a cheeky grin on his face as he started stretching for the upcoming fight.

 **Diane** : " _Actually… I don't mind if you beat me captain, I think I might forfeit. I… just don't want to fight you or Escanor, and i don't have a chance at winning the whole thing anyway, so it's OK._ " She said, showing equal amounts of love for Meliodas, care for her comrades and fear of how strong Escanor actually is.

 **Merlin:** " _Escanor won't make it to the finals Diane, I will. There's no way he can hurt me, because he loves me._ " She said, reassuring Diane that Escanor could not win this competition.

 **Diane** : " _That doesn't change my answer, I won't fight the captain. I never really wanted to win, I just thought it would be fun._ " She said, shocking a few of the other competitors, but keeping her real reason hidden. She wanted Escanor to win so he could find that mysterious lake. She needed to know if she could bring Matrona back and maybe even Dolores.

 **Meliodas** : " _Suit yourself Diane, I'll take the win."_ He said. He didn't pry any further and that was one of the reasons he was the captain. He never asked questions when his friends were confident about something. Both of them made their way towards the arena for their "fight".

 **Bartas** : "I _t's time for the first match of round 3. This time we'll have the sins of Envy and Wrath facing off against each other for a spot at the finals. Ready, set and Go._ " He yelled.

* * *

 **Meliodas vs Diane**

As she stated before, Diane did not want to fight the captain and forfeited the match. However, a fight between them would have ended with Diane winning, due to her immense strength advantage and that Meliodas would have held back. She chose the smarter of two options and forfeited the match, because Escanor could potentially beat Merlin.

 **Bartras** : "T _he next match will begin immediately. In the right corner, we have Merlin and, in the left corner, we have Escanor!_ " he said, a confused tone appearing as he looked at Escanor. Escanor was smiling across the arena, he was extremely happy to see Merlin in the semi-finals, almost too happy.

 **Bartras** : " _Ready, set and Go!_ " he yelled, once again pulling his back.

* * *

 **Merlin vs Escanor**

Merlin did not waste any time attacking Escanor and proceeded to shoot a flurry of spells in his direction. To her surprise they all missed because Escanor was dodging them. He had decided to make their match slightly enjoyable, even if he could not hurt her. She continued her barrage of spells and incantations and after a while she started using demon magic.

* _ **Soul splinter**_ * she said, creating a black arm that reached towards Escanor to cut him. He jumped backwards, but, more of them continued to spawn, until he was surrounded. He decided he would have no choice, but, to take this attack head on, so he did. The black arms slashed him from every direction as he stood still taking every attack without fail. He looked up at Merlin, who seemingly didn't care if Escanor wouldn't use Sunshine. She was pushing his body to the limit as well as her magical power, he thought if he outlasted her it would help, but, then he began to fall unconscious. A wave of sorrow filled his mind, his past mistakes and horrible events that took place began haunting him, yet he didn't seem to care. Nothing could hurt him more than what he learned a few days ago… and with that though fresh in his mind he darted towards Merlin, with a killer glare in his eyes. She was incredibly surprised to see Escanor attack her, but, even more shocked that his fist connected. He punched Merlin extremely hard in the stomach with a strength stat that surpassed Diane's. Merlin's ribcage began to crack and her body began suffering internal damage. This punch sent Merlin flying out of the arena, further than any of the audience members could see. He knew he didn't kill her, but, the punch itself must have hurt like a truck.

 **Bartas** : " _T-t-the winner i-i-is Escanor!_ " he stuttered, still in awe of what just transpired.

 **Meliodas** : " _What the hell was that, Escanor? How could you hit Merlin, that's… impossible!_ " he asked, angry at Escanor for hurting a fellow sin, but, more surprised that he had hurt Merlin. Meliodas knew Merlin would be fine, the punch was not a deadly one, if anything Escanor was holding back. The final fight was now between the two strongest sins whilst they were both holding back.

 **Bartas** : " _Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your patience. I would like to present to you the final round of the Liones fight festival between Meliodas and Escanor. These two contestants have defeated their opponents one after another in clash at the summit. Please, help me show my appreciation to all the fighters who participated today and then we will begin the final match!_ " he said, awaiting the crowd's reaction.

* _ **Loud Applause**_ *

Bartas: " _Ready, Set and Go!_ " he yelled.

* * *

 **Meliodas vs Escanor**

The final match began immediately with both contestants butting heads, literally. Escanor was prepared to face Meliodas; however the latter activated his sacred treasure, Lostvayne, and made 4 duplicates of himself, hoping to distract Escanor. Two of the clones darted towards the sin of Pride and the other two ran to each side of him. The real Meliodas jumped at Escanor, sword in hand, and began slashing repeatedly at him. The other clones would eventually catch up and do the same thing, but, Escanor dodged the blades of all 5 Meliodas's and kicked the real one towards the edge of the arena. He then grabbed one of the clones by its face and crushed it, punching through another one and snapping the third ones neck. The fourth one was now half of Meliodas's strength, but, it didn't last much longer than the others. It slashed Escanor a couple of times, however, it only managed to damage the bandages and rip his clothes, which Escanor was unhappy about. He proceeded to drop kick the last Meliodas's clone as hard as he could, which cause the clone to explode. With such a large amount of power at his disposal, Escanor would never lose to Meliodas. So Meliodas decided to break a personal rule.

He chose to activate his demonic powers in order to stop Escanor's rampage. In an effort to knock him out he began slashing wildly at his face and then used his increased speed to bolt behind Escanor and knock him in the back of the head. The latter spun round rapidly after the hit and battered Meliodas away. Mel's right arm had now been dislocated; he had a few open wounds and was quite annoyed at Escanor, who was clearly holding back. Escanor's body also had some open wounds, however he was more bothered with how tedious the battle had become and why his clothes had to be ripped. Since his attention was elsewhere Meliodas attacked him by surprised, slashing Escanor's chest and damaging the sin of Pride. Blood splattered over the arena as a large quantity of the sin of Pride's blood was released from his body. The slash was meant to greatly cripple Escanor, but, it only served fuel to the fire. Escanor stared at the wound of his chest and suddenly let his bloodlust show. The evil intent that surged from Escanor's body was incredible; Meliodas thought that it was like standing against a commandment. This feeling, although nostalgic, was bad news for Meliodas.

Escanor continued his rampage with a new found rage building inside of him. It was unusual for him to get so riled up, but, last right was very emotionally taxing on him. This fight simply continue Escanor's rage towards Merlin's attitude and added to his power level, which Gowther stated was almost twice that of the captain's. Eventually Meliodas's sword could not longer protect him against Escanor's punches and he eventually lost his balance. Escanor took no pity on the fallen sin of Wrath and punched him into the arena, causing the arena and surrounding land to shatter. There was not a trace of the arena left as the entire area had turned to dust. Meliodas, blood running down his face, eventually conceded the match. He could not compete against Escanor's strength.

 **Bartas** : " _Escanor is the winner!_ " he yelled.

This gave Escanor his third win and that meant that he would be the overall winner of the 7 deadly competitions. This meant he could keep his promise to Diane, but, that he would also be known as the strongest fighter Liones has. He walked over to Meliodas, whose body was still broken and offered him a hand. The sin of Wrath grinned and grabbed the latter's hand, who pulled him out of the massive hole in the ground. The two of them walked off into the waiting area and were patched up. Diane, pleased with Escanor's victory, but, not the way he treated the captain, moved towards him. She wanted to talk about her promise with him.

 **Diane** : " _Umm… Escanor, about that promise you made to me earlier… you don't have to ke…_ " she said, until Escanor cut her off.

 **Escanor** : " _I made you a promise. I'm not about to go back on my word. That would be horribly rude of me, not to mention disgraceful._ " He stated, reassuring Diane that he would ask her question no matter what. He really didn't mind doing this for Diane, as he owed her one. He did however notice her smile and walk towards the captain, whilst another person walked towards him.

 **Bartas:** " _You've really outdone yourself, Escanor. Wining half of the competitions seems to have been quite the easy task._ " He said, realizing a victor had been decided before the last contest.

 **Escanor** : " _I'm not sure how I feel about winning; I just know I had to win. It's not for me, but, for a friend._ " He said, taking care of his wounds by rubbing medicinal herbs into them.

 **Bartas** : " _What are you going to do as the final competition now that you've won? Surely, you don't care anymore, right?_ " he asked, perplexed at what the others would do.

 **Escanor** : " _Actually, I thought I would do what everyone expects me to do and have a poetry reading and the best poem wins. But, something changed my mind… would you like to hear my proposal?_ " he asked, he had the king's attention and nobody would have guessed what the proposal would entail.

* * *

 **Next Chapter : ****A Prideful Proposal**


	7. The Sacred Treasure Hunt!

On the night of the sixth day, the king and Escanor discussed the latter's proposition in great detail. Following his sophisticated ideas and poetic judgment he explained his plan to the king. Escanor had a few things in mind with this competition. He wanted to make it more exciting than the rest of the other events because he wanted to take pride in the one thing he had done for others. He and the king continued their discussion throughout the night, but, the king felt uneasy after hearing Escanor's second request. Escanor did not want to be present when his contest took place; he wanted to take his reward and leave as soon as possible to not waste his opportunity. He would leave the gates of Liones just after Dawn and would take his sacred treasure with him, for a particular purpose he had in mind. They both came to an agreement and parted ways. Escanor returned to his room and packed what he thought was necessary; a change of clothes, a single piece of paper and a map. He left Liones Castle at approximately 6:01Am, with his sacred treasure and strangely did not leave the eastern gate with it.

* * *

The final day of the seven deadly competitions finally came and everyone was incredibly excited. Since first place had already been decided, the final day would decide who came second and third. If a clear winner was not decided then the person who performed the best overall would receive the second prize. The effects of the sixth day did not go unnoticed as some of the competitors had some serious injuries from the fight festival. Merlin was one of the casualties, she had received several fractures across her body after being punched by Escanor. Although the Lion's sin of Pride had been holding back to the absolute minimum of his abilities, he could not avoid hurting Merlin in that fight. She had anticipated this might have happened and whilst she was in pain, she was glad to have gotten more data. Deldrey was in a coma like state after Escanor punched her, she had a fractured skull, pelvis and both her arms had been dislocated. The other competitors all made it to the contest as their wounds were not as severe. The actual competition was about to start and the competitors, minus Escanor and Merlin, made their way outside of Liones into The Great Plain. This was the same area where King's race took place, however the pitfall traps and foot prints that Diane had created attempting to squash Ban had somehow disappeared… almost as if by magic.

The king gathered everyone into the centre of The Great Plain, to begin what the sin of pride called: The Sacred Treasure Hunt. The Lion's sin of Pride had suggested that the king hide all seven of their sacred treasures, to commemorate the ending of the seven deadly competitions. The rules were as followed;

 **No location magic!**

 **No teleportation magic!**

 **Fighting is allowed, but, try not to kill the other competitors!**

 **Stealing and cheating are fine, as long as they don't break the other rules!**

 **No messing with people's memories!**

As the king read out these rules, everyone glared at the person most likely to break them. They stared at Ban and Lord Denzel upon hearing the fourth rule and everyone gave Gowther a death-stare when the last rule was announced. The aim of the game was to find all 7 sacred treasures before the other competitors. They would do this by gathering six notes, which would be distributed by a holy knight standing next to each of sacred treasure. Each note held a clue to where the final sacred treasure would be and when gathered together they would form a poem. The last sacred treasure to find was Divine Axe, Rhitta, because it was way too heavy, for anyone other than Escanor, to move. Nobody knew where the final sacred treasure was because Escanor had taken it with him and placed the final note himself. For this contest it was imperative that all competitors could read. This would be problematic for Ban and Diane. Ban could not read very well, due to his lack of education, and Diane was too large to read what Escanor wrote. However, for her sake, they made especially large version of his poem by carving each verse into stone slabs. To begin this contest all the people were given a few pieces of information, in the form of the six locations:

 **Herritt: The Great Plain**

 **Chastifol: Everdeen forest**

 **Gideon: Istar**

 **Lostvayne: Edinburgh castle**

 **Aldan: Merlin's Magical Research Facility**

 **Courcouse: the summit of Mt. Titus**

The king gave them all this information and stated that the contest would start when he organized all 14 contestants into a large circular shape that pointed every competitor in a different direction. Meliodas prepped himself by cracking his knuckles, Ban cracked his neck, Diane stretched and King looked mildly impressed that Escanor managed to do all this. His admiration for Escanor's work was immediately dispelled from his mind when he began to admire something of greater importance; Diane, more specifically her posterior. He watched her voluptuous bottom move in all directions as blood poured out his nose at an alarming rate. Every passing moment felt like a dream come true, he even began to cry at how perfect the situation was for him. His blood and tears landed on Ban's head, which made the latter look up and grin at the sight of spoiling King's happiness.

 **Ban** : " _What are you doing? Being a massive pervert and looking at Diane's butt!_ " he yelled. King instantly had a gut wrenching feeling and when he looked up he saw Diane, who was now facing him. His life was about to be ended by the woman he loved just because he was staring at her butt without permission. He watched in confusion as she simply stepped on Ban.

 **Diane** : " _Going back to this place reminded me of what you said a couple days ago, you jerk. This is payback!"_ she yelled, continuously stomping on the same spot almost a dozen times, before Ban's beaten, broken and bloody body crawled out of his makeshift tomb.

 **Ban** : " _tsk… can't believe that backfired on me. I suppose next time I'll get him and I can always use this as blackmail_." He said, pleased with his new idea and equally disappointed he didn't get King in trouble.

 **King** : " _Phew… that was close! I thought she caught me staring_." He thought, whilst chuckling to himself which invigorated the sin of Envy's curiosity, who had literally just noticed he was there.

 **Diane** : " _King, what did Ban say before I smashed him?"_ she asked.

 **King** : " _Nothing of interest Diane. He said he was going to win. Anyway let's have a good treasure hunt."_ He replied. Diane smiled in agreement and began walking away. Unbeknownst to King, she glanced back at him with a smile on her face. Her smile slowly faded into a confused expression as she contemplated what she had just felt. It would seem that for a split second she subconsciously felt connected to King again. King reacted in a very typical way and simply smiled back. Diane awoke from her daydreaming and began questioning what just happened. Since the contest was her main priority, she refused to let it bother her and walked towards Meliodas.

 **Diane** : _"CAPTAIN!"_ she exclaimed.

 **Meliodas** : " _Not again!"_ he thought. Luckily he was saved by the beginning of the seventh contest.

 **Bartras** : " _If you would all kindly gather around in a circular shape, so we may prepare the final arrangements before the contest begins."_ He said, gesturing at the competing holy knights to gather around. As a point of reference he stated that there were people and holy knights along the way that could guide them in the general direction they had to go, if they did not know their geography.

 **Ban** : " _I'm gonna steal this victory from under your nose, captain._ " he declared, smiling menacingly at Meliodas.

 **Meliodas** : " _nishishishi, I'm going to win Ban, you stand no chance._ " He stated.

 **Diane** : " _Aww, captain's so cute when he's serious."_ She said, holding her hands to her face and blushing.

 **King** : " _Why can't she look at me that way?"_ he whispered. Tears streaming down his face as a slight tinge of jealousy crept into his heart.

 **Gowther** : " _Would you like me to help you find out King?"_ he said, his usual monotone voice was replaced with a dark and mysterious one, almost as if he was a different person.

 **King** : " _It was a rhetorical question, Gowther. I know why she doesn't love me."_ He replied, reminding himself of his past and getting slightly unnerved at Gowther's voice.

 **Gowther** : " _Understood!"_ he replied, his usual monotone voice had returned and was much more pleasant than his previous one. Gowther returned to his spot between Slader and Dale. Suddenly the king declared that the contest would start, everyone was geared up and ready to begin.

 **Bartas** : " _Everyone get into your positions. Ready, set, go!"_ He yelled, watching as all 14 competitors bolted off to find their first piece of paper. The king then read his version of the poem and quickly realized where Rhitta had been hidden. The king never expected Escanor's contest to be a children's game, let alone his reason for it being one. Late last night, before he left for his room, Escanor stated that his motivation for picking such a contest was that the princesses and misfits were playing hide and seek once with smiles across their faces. Since he didn't have any first hand experience he assumed it might be fun to play such a game with friends, although he didn't want to ruin the game's reputation or hurt anyone, so he chose not to participate.

* * *

 **The Great Plain**

The Great Plain was an immense prairie of luscious green grass and grand mountains that rose beyond the clouds. A flowery field with many natural wonders, inhabited by herds of dusk bison, wild boars and flocks of cuckoo birds. It is a truly beautiful plain with none that could parallel its perfection. The plain's beauty was renowned throughout Britannia and attracted many weary travellers who sought a place to relax. Another individual who found this place more than simply relaxing was the Boar's sin of Gluttony. This was the first place she had ever met Escanor, if only briefly, before he cowered at her presence and ran into the woods. The plain's magical healing properties also interested her, as she sought a way to produce the same effect on people. Regardless of her personal goals today she required rest, thus she opened a portal as to observe the competition.

A sweet, floral aroma filled the air, causing all the competitors to relax as they searched for Twin Bow Herrit, the first of the seven sacred treasures. The competition began with none of the competitors trying to rush ahead, the soothing aroma protruding from the flowers was causing light headedness and casual skipping by the sin of Envy. In their drugged up state, they tried finding the sacred treasure in all possible locations. King searched in a desolate cave and was terrified by a colony of bats. Ban jumped around happily humming to himself whilst some angry cuckoo birds pecked open his head. Meliodas lifted rocks and found nothing under them. Gowther kept asking every lifeform he met if they had seen anything, but got no response. Most of the competing holy knights were looking around normally, searching and remembering where they had been. Diane searched around a miniature forest where she bumped her head on a beehive. She was seen running and screaming across the plain.

 **Diane** : _"Captain! Save me! I HATE BUGS!"_ she yelled, tears rolling down her face as she was being stung countless times by the swarm of bees.

 **King** : " _I'll save you Diane!"_ he replied, rushing over to help the crying giantess.

 **Ban** : " _You guys should focus on the game._ " He muttered before returning to his own escapade and falling into one of King's old pitfall traps. The sin of Greed sighed, an annoyed expression on his face as he attempted to remove the large spikes from his chest and continue the treasure hunt!

An hour passed and everyone gathered on a Cliffside where they suddenly realized they had no idea what Gowther's sacred treasure looked like. It was at that point that Diane, who felt like she'd been tricked, threw a slight temper tantrum and stomped on the ground. Her stomp resulted in all the competitors tilting sideways as they realized that Diane's stomp had rendered the cliff less stable than before. It did not take long before all 14 competitors were plunged into a deep ravine, Diane hit the ground first with a thud and with an embarrassed expression on her face watched as all the other competitors, who were male, land on her breasts and bounce off of them and onto the ground. The men were all thanking the gods for the heavenly cushion that broke their fall, but, upon turning to face Diane her angered expression spoke volumes about her current state of mind. King, the only competitor that could float, watched as Diane's anger transformed her kind nature into one of pure rage. She proceeded to beat up everyone that landed on her breasts, except Meliodas.

Five minutes passed and Diane was seen leaving the area, clapping her hands together as if to imply a "job well done". She, King and Meliodas rushed towards an opening that could lead them back to the surface and upon closer inspection they noticed Hugo, one of Batras's bodyguards, leaning against the opening and holding what seemed to be paper. The three sins had managed to gather the first piece of the puzzle. Diane quickly placed her stone slab into her backpack, whilst Meliodas and King pocketed their notes and kept running. The three sins were followed by the remaining two, Ban and Gowther, who were mostly unharmed by Diane rampage. The remaining holy knights were all lying in the ravine unconscious and all brutally beaten by a young maiden's wrath. Thus the amount of people fighting for second and third place diminished down to five; Ban, Diane, Gowther, King and Meliodas. Their next stop was Everdeen Forest where they intended on finding King's sacred treasure, Spirit Spear Chastifol. King was eager to get his sacred treasure as he wanted to cuddle into his pillow as it would provide a more comfortable mode of transportation.

* * *

 **Everdeen Forest**

Everdeen forest was filled with tall, thick oak trees that grew several times higher than a giant and were incredibly sturdy. Whilst the Great Plain was the most beautiful plain, the Everdeen forest was a close second when comparing it to the Fairy king's forest. It had a gargantuan tree in its centre, called the millennium tree, which all competitors were assuming was the location of the next sacred treasure. The height of the trees made travelling easier for the sin of Envy, who no longer had to worry about hitting another beehive. Surprisingly, they managed to navigate their way through the forest with much ease, gathered their respective clues from a holy knight apprentice named Gustaf, and left. However, leaving the forest was more difficult than entering it. The Everdeen forest changes the route which travellers must follow to escape once every hour. This is a defence mechanism the forest has used since before the great holy war and has survived due to its reputation as one of the most dangerous forests around. Unfortunately for the sins, an hour had passed whilst they were navigating the forest and it quickly shifted and made escape impossible.

 **Meliodas** : " _Wait, the way we came is blocked?"_ He exclaimed, clearly surprised by the sudden change.

 **Gowther** : _"I believe the trees have moved and thus have made our original path useless. The number of variations to this forest's escape route total 124,795 and this is without taking into account the branching roads on the main path. I suggest we find another way to escape the forest and do so in a timely manner, before the forest moves once more."_ He explained. His monotone expression did not assist the situation, as Diane and King ran around like headless chicken panicking about their current situation.

 **Ban** : " _Why don't we just use Chastifol to carve a path through the forest?"_ he said, with a serious expression displayed on his face. Whilst this would be a great idea for a normal group of knights, King was the fairy king and did not share Ban's enthusiasm.

 **King** : " _Are you insane? Think of the creatures that live here and the trees, they are all alive Ban. We are NOT cutting down this forest to open up a new path, we are going to complete this puzzle properly."_ He yelled, his ears were steaming at the sound of Ban's selfish ignorance of basic biology. Ban proceeded to ignore what King said and picked his nose. Throwing the booger at Diane, who barely dodged it and kicked Ban into the forest wall. Ban's body was pierced by branches, the branches broke and Ban landed on an incredibly sharp rock which skewered him in half.

 **Ban** : " _Ow!"_ was all he could say after being impaled over twenty times by various size branches and the one large rock. He quickly regenerated himself and pointed in the direction he had been facing.

 **Ban** : " _Yo! Captain, the exit is that way!"_ he yelled, picking out the branches from his body and looking at Diane, annoyed as all hell with what she just did.

 **Meliodas** : " _Thanks Ban! When we leave the forest it's a competition again, right guys?"_ he stated, running towards the exit that Ban was pointing to and signalling to the others to follow. Diane glanced down at Ban smiling at him, whilst he stared back at her with rage exuding in his eyes. A trickle of sweat rushed down the back of her neck as she hurried over to Meliodas to escape the changing forest.

 **Ban** : " _I'll get you back for that… I promise!"_ he said, a malicious smile forming on his face, implying he had already conjured the perfect way to deal with her.

The sins had no other option than to duck under bushes, squeeze past trees and jump across large ravines. The last ravine they crossed was the continuation of the one they had fallen down before, which was obvious considering there were knights carrying all other competitors away on stretchers. Diane rubbed the back of her head and giggled as she realized she too out more than half of the competition. Suddenly the sins felt a huge shift in the ground beneath them, a miniature earthquake of sorts. This prompted the sins who were casually jogging to start sprinting towards the way out. The landscape shifted, the bushes moved, the trees relocated and the slight faint light at the end of the forest appeared at the end of a long stretch of road. They had a small window of time before the exit closed and they would be trapped inside the forest for more than a day. Picking up the pace, King was the first one to escape the forest considering he was the fastest of the sins when he needed to be. He was followed by Diane, Gowther and Meliodas. 4 of the competitors had escaped the forest whilst Ban seemed to have been left behind. It seems that without realising it, Diane had accidentally stepped on him… again! His revenge against Diane would be even sweeter the more she gave him reason to do it. They shrugged it off and continued their way to Istar, the place where Gideon had been relocated.

* * *

 **Istar**

Istar is the holy land of the druid clan and was a small plain littered with large rocks inscribed with magical texts. This land had many enchantments to ward off intruders, however, they were dispelled due to a considerate sin of Pride dropping by and warning them that his competition was going to take place in Istar temporarily. Gideon, the third sacred treasure, was said to be here as per Batras's instructions. The remaining 4 sins and a splattered Ban, stuck on the sole of Diane's boot, arrived there seven minutes after exiting the forest. They had continued sprinting and were now exhausted, well half of them were. King continued floating on Chastifol whilst Gowther never seemed to be exhausted. Meliodas sat on one of the large rocks and Diane lent on two of them, where she was inspecting a squishy feeling under her foot. She scrapped it off on one of the large boulders and Ban's body feel off her boot like a pancake. He quickly regenerated himself and in a cry of rage smacked Diane across the head.

 **Ban** : " _QUIT STEPPING ON ME YOU GIANT BITCH! IT STILL HURTS YOU KNOW!"_ he yelled, making sure she understood he was fed up of being stepped on. Considering this was an accident and that she had not been yelled at by her comrades before, Diane's true colours shone through as she began to cry.

 **Diane** : " _I'm sorry… I didn't mean to that time…"_ she whimpered, her words slightly disoriented due to her eyes tearing up and her body shaking.

 **King** : _"It's alright Diane, it's just Ban seems to be having a rough day… it's not your fault_!" he said, attempting to comfort the giantess to no avail. She continued to make associated crying sounds, sniffling, whimpering, slight pauses between each wail, she was clearly a sensitive soul who did not appreciate being yelled at.

 **Meliodas** : " _Could you stop crying Diane? Ban is an ass sometimes, but, you just have to be more careful and watch where you step!"_ he suggested, which alleviated the teary eyed giantess's crying fit. She began to regain her composure as they all looked around, picking up rocks, talking amongst themselves, Diane still getting over the fact that she was a giant in a small world, yet they all found no trace of Gideon.

The largest sacred treasure was unmistakably huge, almost as long as Diane was tall, and whilst searching the entirety of Istar they could not find it. It was at that moment that Gowther began reading the writing and becoming preoccupied with it, considering it told a story of how the druids were founded and how their magic was created. Whilst the sin of Lust dabble in history, Diane decided to try some comedy, picking up two large rocks, sneaking behind King and smashing them together loudly. This sudden noise scared the sin of Sloth senseless, to the point where he could barely speak. The sin of Envy fell to the ground laughing and began rolling around in joy. It was whilst she was doing this that her head accidentally warped through one of the druid clan's portals. Inside of it she saw what appeared to be her sacred treasure and upon pulling her head out of the portal she gestured to the others to come take a look. They all walked through the gate and met up with five people; the druid elder called Zibinni, a small four year old boy called Theo, twin sisters Jenna and Zaneli and finally the holy knight chosen to hand out the flyers was one of Denzel's apprentice holy knights, Arden. The sins were greeted by the druids, had a small conversation about the competition and parted ways by talking to Arden. He scoffed at the sight of the sins as he handed them their flyers, commenting on how stupid this competition was and the person who created it should die in a fire.

 **Meliodas** : " _You should not insult the Lion sin of Pride or his work, you might foul his mood. I fought him once and got trounced, although neither of us were really serious. He also destroyed an entire kingdom once because one of their knights pushed over a small child and refused to apologize. Safe to assume they all died._ " He said, a huge grin appearing on his face. He pressed his lips together, began whistling and placed both of his hands on the back of his head. All the while, Arden had wet himself at the brutality that might befall him should ill of the Lion's sin of Pride. Diane picked up Gideon and they all laughed amongst themselves at the stain on Arden's pants. They proceeded to rushed to their fourth location, towards Edinburgh Castle.

* * *

 **Edinburgh Castle**

Lostvayne was not that difficult to locate once the sins arrived at the disfigured remains of Edinburgh Castle. Ban, Diane and King looked at the horrific mess of a castle and immediately concluded this was Escanor's doing. Meliodas looked deep into the hole he had created to alleviate Gelda's anguish of being a vampire with no purpose. He tipped his head close to his chest, his hair covered his eyes and a single tear rushed down his face.

 **Meliodas** : " _I wonder if you will forgive me one day, Zeldris… I wonder if I did the right thing all those years ago…"_ he whispered, reminiscing about his past decision and questioning his actions. His regretful tone was dispelled when he caught a glimpse of what seemed like a sparkle. This was in fact a race against the others, so without hesitating he jumped into the 30000ft hole and landed perfectly on two legs. Down there he found his sacred treasure coupled with an amulet. The amulet was shaped in the symbol of the goddess clan and he chose to pocket the amulet in case it would become useful. He noticed a lack of a holy knight in the area and proceeded to jump out of the hole, where he bumped into Death Pierce, another one of Denzel's apprentices. He silently handed Meliodas a piece of paper and gestured towards the others who were already racing on ahead to Merlin's magical research laboratory. He thanked the knight and darted off after them.

 **Death** **Pierce** : " _So this is Edinburgh Castle? The sins must be monsters to cause so much damage to one place._ " He thought, as he walked back to his small campfire waiting for the other contestants. Meliodas quickly caught up to the rest of the group and began charging ahead, in hopes to reach the laboratory before the others did.

* * *

 **Merlin's Magical Research Facility**

Aldan was the easiest of the treasures to find as they all arrived at Merlin's Magical Research Facility and her apprentice Vivianne was standing in front of the large building and handed them their clues. The reason for this being a short and sweet escapade is because Escanor stated that he did not want Merlin's affairs to be treated poorly and thus opted to not move her sacred treasure. Instead, it lay on a bedside table next to the resting Merlin, who was using it to watch the sins overcome Escanor's trials and reading a few of the poems he had written about her, which she had taken from his room. She blushed as some of them went into great detail about her beauty and her passion for magic, whilst others focused more on her kindness and gluttonous appetite for sweets and other foods, especially raisins, which Escanor found cute. Her one day of rest turned into a pleasant day of watching her comrades' mess around, eating sweets, drinking wine and reading poetry.

She was not perfectly content with her situation though, as she felt guilty. Merlin felt guilty about the other day during her fight festival. She was upset with herself trying to manipulate Escanor and felt horrible that she even attempted such a thing. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was the wrong thing to do. She needed him to return quickly so she could apologize to him for her actions, she genuinely felt upset by what she had done. Lord knows why she was having these feelings of guilt, but, some might say it derives from her attachment to Escanor.

The sins were almost finished with their treasure hunt and eagerly ran to their last location before the puzzle would unveil itself. The last location would be the most difficult to reach as the remaining 5 competitors had to scale the largest mountain on the east coast of Britannia, Mt. Titus.

* * *

 **Mt. Titus**

Mt. Titus was estimated to be 3000 metres above sea level and was renowned for its steep elevation and the various minerals extracted from its core. It was located next to the mining town of Oreus, a wealthy town built upon its large trade investments and unique goods, thus the size of the town rivalled the nearby kingdoms, but, compared to the mountain there town seemed incredibly insignificant. When the sins finally made it to the mountain, after a 20 minute sprint, they all began to rest at the foot of the gargantuan wall of rock. Even Diane was impressed at the size of it and she used to live at Megadozer. After a brief break, the sins began scaling the steep mountain, hoping that nothing would go wrong. Each sin tried their own technique and some were beyond insane. King floated skywards as he watched the others climb the mountain slower than he could fly, thus giving him an unfair advantage in this contest. Ban and Meliodas tried running up the mountain, much like one would across a wall, however they did not reach very far before they lost their momentum and fell back to the ground. They both hit the ground in a massive explosion of earthen debris, removed themselves from their respected holes, laughed their asses off and continued to repeat the process until they reached a small cave in which they could mark as a checkpoint. Diane took the standard approach and climbed the mountain, using Gideon and her pointed boots to create holes within the rocky mountain face. Gowther was the only member of the sins that did not have a means to reach the summit of the mountain, so instead he fired an invasion arrow into King's head, making him pick up two pages as a posed to one. The sin of Lust smiled from within his large suit of armour and sat down, awaiting his plan's succession, whilst the others exerted themselves to scale the large mountain.

 **Diane** : " _This is a lot tougher than I thought… I'm starting to have… trouble… breathing…_ " she said, as she was reaching the mountain's summit. King had already reached the summit, but, was waiting for Diane in hopes that she would make it safely.

At the peak Courcouse was hanging on a large metal pole, which had the pages magically enchanted upon it, whilst Diane's slab was lying on the floor. King had already acquired his page and the one for Gowther, which he had been tricked into getting. Suddenly, Diane's arms rose from the mountain side and came into his view. His flurry of positive emotions negated the fact that his lack of breath was bothering him, but, more importantly Diane was safe. She let out a huge sigh of relief and reached over past King to pick up her slab. Upon grasping it she carefully placed it inside of her backpack and smiled at King triumphantly. King casually floated down to try helping her in any way he could, his own smile glimmering with kindness as he worried about Diane's safety. The momentous occasion was short-lived when both sins heard a loud cracking noise and Diane found herself slowly tilting towards the ground. Within a split second of this happening the only thing either sin could say was…

 **Diane and King** : " _CRAP!"_ they both said, panic clearly identifiable in their voices and the cold sweat of fear running down their faces.

Diane quickly grabbed on to Gideon and accidentally pulled King into her cleavage as she fell down the rocky mountain side, upon the summit which had cracked from the mountain because of Diane's climbing "tactic". The ride was incredibly unpleasant as Diane was tossed in the air a couple of times due to the terrain. King's current situation was anything but as he was pressed into Diane's hill sized bosom, his nose was bloody and he had lost consciousness. Barely thirty seconds past and Diane opened her eyes long enough to pinpoint Meliodas and Ban trying to run up the mountain. They both looked up, at each other and with a unanimous blank expression began running back down the mountain to the maximum of their ability whilst yelling…

 **Ban and Meliodas** : _"CRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP_!" they yelled. Their screams could be heard from the bottom of the mountain, where Gowther noticed their cries without comprehending what they were saying. Due to the cloudy weather that day the sin of Lust's enhanced eyesight could not help him pinpoint their exact location and distance. Within his armour he squinted and within a few seconds of trying to decipher a large incoming shadow, he saw Ban and Meliodas running down the mountain with Diane and King sliding down it with his note. However, due to Gowther's logical and sophisticated mind he only had a single thing to say about his current situation…

 **Gowther** : " _Crap!"_ he said in a monotone voice, which had a tiny layer of shock behind it. Approximately two second after he shared his opinion on the situation Ban and Meliodas darted past him and the entire summit of the mountain landed on Gowther's head.

The force and speed of the impact caused Gowther's helmet to press into itself and the left horn broke off. Diane crawled out of the debris, dirtied by the dust and mud that had scattered around the area upon impact. King had been blown a few metres away from Diane and was lying in a miniature pool of his own blood. Today had been a great day for King, it almost made up for the terrible things in his past. Ban and Meliodas had fallen on their rectums and stared in shock at the resulting impact to the surrounding area. Both Ban and Meliodas walked over to the centre of the debris and picked up a single note each. King and Diane gathered around the two of them as well, but, were in worse condition considering they were hit by the impact of the mountain.

 **Meliodas** : " _That's the last one guys, we are officially competing against each other now!"_ he declared, with an immense grin on his face. Before the other sins could compose themselves and respond to his statement, Gowther's arm busted out of the debris and claimed the note King had acquired for him.

 **Gowther** : " _Thank you, King!"_ he said, the rest of his body jolted upwards and also busted out of the debris. The other sins were all worried for his health, considering his head had been flattened. He seemed perfectly fine, so the others simplify shrugged it off. From this point on, they would part ways as to find out where Rhitta had been hidden. Each sin left in a different direction and laid out their notes, or slabs in Diane's case, to guess the location. Each page/slab was numbered which made it easy to identify the position of each verse. They all looked at the notes and soon realized… it was a poem. The name of the poem was entitled…

 **Seven Sacred Secrets**

 _You've travelled endlessly across The Great Plain._

 _You entered Everdeen Forest and had to use your brain._

 _You battled Istar's magic and met a familiar face._

 _You passed through Edinburgh Castle, you remember that place._

 _You went to my sweet's home and entry you were denied._

 _You scaled Mt. Titus, fell and almost died._

 _You accepted the hunt and for the last page._

 _You must travel through the lands and find a unique cave._

 _Your only hint is it's close to my heart._

 _I'd recommend Liones, that's a good place to start._

* * *

After reading Escanor's poetic treasure hunt all of the sins were confused, even Gowther's logical mind could not decipher the obvious clue he had been given. The only option they all had was to travel to Liones and search there. The location was not all that special, the only trick was the whereabouts of this hidden cave. Back inside her magical facility, Merlin had already deciphered the poem's hidden message and was laughing to herself. Not only had she enjoyed the slight addition of him calling her "my sweet", which was his nickname for her, she also enjoyed the fact that the cave was literally beneath her feet. "Close to my heart" was a reference to the cave being close to Merlin's current location, however, the other sins were unable to understand this clue. The only person who knew of Escanor's love for Merlin were the two parties involved in the relationship and Meliodas, he was simply too dense to understand it. The five remaining sins were now gathered in Liones and heard a special announcement from the king, who was using one of Merlin's enchantments to project his voice.

 **Batras** : " _Attention to all remaining competitors, due to the unforeseen length of this tournament we have added a new feature to this contest. The second and third prizes have doubled in monetary gain, in other words, second place will receive 2000 gold pieces and third place will receive 1000. Thank you for your cooperation and I hope you do find this last page… it's quite a good treasure hunt!"_ he explained, finishing on a high note as to inspire the sins to increase the amount of effort they put behind their search.

Diane looked around the eastern hills, Ban looked in the dungeon, King looked outside the perimeter of the wall, Gowther looked around the castle and Meliodas, slowly putting two and two together, was searching around Merlin's facility. He found quite a the opening to a cave standing at around 40ft in height and 20ft across, it was almost unnoticeable yet the others could not seem to find it. The deep, dark cavern was at the foot of the large cliff Merlin's magical facility was built upon. He entered it without hesitation and within the depths of the dark cavern he found a large chamber illuminated by a single ray of light. At the centre of the cavern, Meliodas gazed at a crystal clear spring. The pure water was trickling down a set of steps that led up to its location and he escalated the same set of stairs until he found what he had been searching for. The small amount of sunlight which illuminated the cavern was being absorbed by an incredibly large axe, in the centre of the spring. Upon the axe there was a single note which read "Congratulations" and Meliodas smiled to himself as he lessened the gap between him and the final sacred treasure, Rhitta. He knew from his countless experiences helping Escanor move his sacred treasure that even his power level, which was over 30,000 at the time, could not assist him in carrying the axe easily. Instead, he chose to reduce the distance between him and the treasure by jumping across the spring, using a number of damp rocks which were incredibly slippery. He continued to get closer until he felt an incredible pressure and a tingling sensation which made him leap away from the sacred treasure. A sudden surge of magic erupted from Rhitta and blasted Meliodas further away, not damaging him due to the distance he had already regained. The magical pulse was a small amount of Sunshine that had been stored inside of Rhitta and for some reason had released itself against Meliodas, the reason being because of his demonic presence and the threat that Rhitta believed he imposed on it. This did not register as the reason for the sudden burst if magic in Meliodas's mind, he leapt across the stones once more and arrived in from of Rhitta this time with no resistance. He grabbed the final piece of paper and noticed that there was only two of them, this meant that only one person could officially win, but, someone else could come second. Whilst he was lost in thought, he heard King's voice echoing in the cave and immediately came back into reality and rushed out of the cave. King noticed him holding a piece of paper and thus darted into the cave to get himself a page.

 **King** : " _I will win this contest for Diane's sake…"_ he said, determined to be second or at least come third overall. He saw Rhitta off in the distance, grabbed the last page and followed Meliodas out of the cave. The only reason King had found this cave was the pressure that Sunshine gave off, the other sins felt it as well but were not prepared to locate and deal with the problem. Meliodas rushed past the eastern gate with King hot on his tail, he found King's speed to be impressive considering his title of sin of Sloth. The competitors were officially down to two and their will to win was clear as day. The passionate look in their eyes was obvious to all the onlookers as King began to break away from Meliodas. His flight speed was making it much harder for Meliodas to keep up, so the captain did the only logical thing to win the race. Meliodas activated his demon mark and got slightly serious in the competition. Within less than a second Meliodas had not only passed King he had made it to the finish line. This was just a small amount of the power the captain had within him, this surprised King as he crossed the finish line and stared blankly at his captain.

 **King** : " _How… did you do that?"_ he questioned, absolutely shocked that Meliodas was that fast.

 **Meliodas** : " _I got a little serious that's all."_ He replied in a casual way, as if to imply this was a normal response. King simply kept staring at him and began to question his captain's words. The thought was dispelled from his mind when the other three sins reappeared and moaned about how they did not win.

 **Diane** : " _Awwww… I wanted to come third! At least captain won though!"_ she said, giggling at her statement.

 **Ban** : " _Dang… I supposed we still have to drink to your victory, right captain?"_ he said, grinning at the captain.

 **Gowther** : " _I did not want to win anyway…"_ he said, truthfully not caring about who won, but, clapping for the victors nonetheless.

 **Bartas** : " _Congratulations Meliodas, second place is yours and King you have acquired third place, you will each be awarded the money momentarily."_ he said, walking over to a nearby table where two large bags of gold, one large than the other, were laying. He gave Meliodas the larger bag and King was given the smaller one. He asked them what they intended to use the money for and both Meliodas and King had different ideas.

 **Meliodas** : " _I'm going to blow the lot on a party. I will need a lot of booze, food and people to drink it!"_ he exclaimed. Everyone seemed to agree with this idea and smiled at him, this allowed him to get drunk and throw an amazing party.

 **King** : " _I'm going to use mine for something specific…_ " he said, looking at Diane's tattered clothing.

 **Diane** : " _Thanks King!"_ she said, blushing slightly and moving her hair in front of her face. She immediately realized what he was going to use the money on and was very thankful for it. Her clothes were barely holding together and she was already trying her best to avoid arousing any suspicion. The entire escapade on Mt. Titus really did a number on Diane she almost experienced an anxiety attack, regardless King felt it noble of him to get the materials for both of them to make Diane some new clothes, similar to the ones she is currently wearing. After all, he did hitch a ride in her cleavage at Mt. Titus so it was the least he could do. All the competitors and watchers rejoiced as their second and third place winners were awarded their gold and they all travelled back to Liones for Meliodas massive party. Diane and Merlin started in the distance, both thinking of Escanor in their own respective ways. Diane was worried about him, as the night would soon be upon them and she desperately wanted her question answered. Merlin was feeling something she had no considered possible, feelings of worry and of great adoration for the lion's sin of Pride.

* * *

 **Meanwhile:**

As the sun began to set The Lion's sin of Pride was walking through the nearby town of Durham with his head lowered in shame. He refused to lift it up for any reason as he did not wish to cause any trouble and start a commotion. This village feared him, as all the others did, revering him as a monster created solely to destroy the human race. It was not his fault he was born with such a tremendous power, he was simply unfortunate. His entire life was spent isolated from society, his parents disowned him at a young age and left the forest to consume him. Due to Sunshine's properties, Escanor was and never has been harmed by any animals, simply because they are drawn to his warmth, nature itself would move at his whim and everything around him would not attack him. Sunshine, the ability of life itself, was comprised of all types of elemental magic; Creation, Disaster, purgatory fire and the goddess clan's light. It was an ability that was unique compared to all the others in its basic form, but, Escanor could not use the other types of magic all up… he had simply never tried.

He was taught many different things by the creatures in the woods such as construction, dancing, singing and communicating. He was able to grasp the basic fundamentals of humanity and wander around looking for purpose… but, he never found it. He had still not found his purpose after all these years of trying and was finally going to get what he wanted, he was finally going to attain a purpose to his life... However, his promise meant more to him than his own happiness and for that he simply wanted to see Diane's smile.

He was instantly recognized by the townsfolk and everyone ran away from him as he attempted to calm them down. He quickly realized this was of no use and continued walking through the town. Every echoing thud of doors being slammed shut and windows being barred only made him feel less human than he already was. He lifted his head to choose which direction he was going in and was quickly blocked by some holy knights from a nearby kingdom. They quickly resorted to attacking him instead of talking to him, assessing him as a huge threat and believing they could be paid handsomely should they take Escanor's head. They circled him, unsheathing their blades and gathering the composure. The knights were close to their thirties and each of their faces told a different story, ultimately they had all been corrupted by their own selfish desires. Escanor did not have the time for these knights, therefore opting for the safer solution of walking away. The knights decided cowardice was in their best interest and took one of the village children hostage. This caught Escanor's attention as he turned to face the knights, they continuously threatened the girl with their weapons and beckoned that the great criminal return and suffer a proper punishment.

Turning to face the knights he dropped his bag, the moonlight touching his face as it began to rise in the night's sky. He began muttering something to himself, which aggravated the knights as they believed it was an incantation to weaken them. He simply stared at them, his gaze pierced through their very being and they began to feel a fear unlike any other. In the moment the knights hesitated, Escanor had grabbed the little girl and had placed her inside of the open window, which her mother was crying out of. Upon realizing this the mother was astounded, the monster of a man saved the life of a child without any reason to do so. The knights were still quivering in their boots, more so than usual as the speed at which Escanor travelled rivalled King's flight speed and was not to be taken lightly. He decided that his discussion with the knights would end, but, their commander appeared behind him and openly stated his plans.

 **Knight Commander** : " _If you do not cooperate mongrel we will be forced to take immediate action on this town. If we burn it down then we can easily blame you for it… n'est-ce pas?_ " He said, his pompous attitude was easily distinguishable in his voice, not to mention he was speaking French meaning that knights from other countries were seeking fame by removing Escanor's head. The knights were not that powerful, in fact Escanor's current was much stronger the knight commander was on a different level though. Escanor had had enough of this hold up and proceeded to bolt in front of the knight commander and smack his hand into his chest plate. He then spun his hand in a lightning fast motion and propelled the knight commander into a nearby boulder, rendering him unconscious. He returned to his things, looked back at the other knights and stared at them once more; this time they ran away.

He walked towards the forest where he had estimated this great lake to be and wandered into it, searching for answers and searching or purpose. He arrived at an incredibly large lake that had a small island simply laying in the middle of it, upon the island was a glimmering longsword. He walked over to a nearby tree and dropped his rucksack on the ground. He carefully examined the water, perplexed at how he should proceed. He decided a direct approach would be the best course of action and simply chose to ask his question out loud.

 **Escanor** : " _Um… excuse me, goddess clan I've c-c-come to ask you a question!"_ He stuttered, shyly and quietly. He was still as cowardly as he had anticipated and was hoping for a standard response from the clan he revered and required the assistance of. He stood silently for several minutes to no avail, his plea had fallen on deaf ears and he slowly lent his head in disappointment. He casually sighed and walked over to his rucksack, picking it up and feeling incredibly upset. Not only did the legend not live up to its name, he was going to disappoint Diane without an answer to her question. He gazed at the middle of the lake once more before making a bold, daring decision; he would take the sword from the stone which seemed perfectly placed inside on the island for a specific use. He swam through the freezing water, shivering and complaining about the cold. He eventually reached the island, his clothes drenched and incredibly uncomfortable. Exhausted, he attempted to pull the sword out of the stone, to his surprise he easily lifted it out. The sword weighed barely anything especially compared to Rhitta, which Escanor struggled to move at night. He swung the sword around a couple of times before he began questioning why someone or something had left a well-crafted blade lying in the middle of the lake. His pondering was cut short when he heard an echoing voice, which terrified him to his core.

 **Voice** : " _How did you remove that sword?"_ it asked, equally puzzled and annoyed. The voice was very feminine in nature although the tone would be closer to that of an angered barbarian. Escanor was quick to release the blade and cower in fear behind the rock, however he noticed an incandescent light reflected in the water. He decided to peak from behind the rock and was surprised to see a member of the goddess clan emerge from the lake. She floated towards him, tapping her finger against her arm as she glared at him suspiciously. She noticed the look of amazement of his face and Escanor, realizing this might be his only chance to ask a question, decided to man-up and confront the goddess.

 **Escanor** : " _I pulled the sword out to get your attention._ " He exclaimed, the goddess looked confused, but, allowed him to carry on.

 **Escanor** : " _I wanted to get an answer to a particular question, will you answer it?"_ he asked, hoping she would respond favourably to his request.

 **Goddess** : " _I do not care about the meaningless questions humans would pose and I certainly do not care about your trivial existence!_ " she yelled, still annoyed at him for summoning her. She looked at him angrily as she began gathering light magic in her right hand. She began firing beams of light from her hand attempting to kill Escanor, or so it would seem. Escanor was cornered, he could not run away from this situation as he could not outrun a goddess nor could he afford to miss his opportunity to get his questions answered. He decided to fight her instead, using the blade he pulled out to defend himself. At first he was afraid, he was petrified, but he soon realised he could not live his life cowering from all his problems. She was quite amused by the idea that the human would fight her and immediately let down her guard. Escanor seemingly entered the same mind frame he possessed in the day and ruthlessly dismembered her. Fear coursed through her body as she saw both her arms fall to the ground. Their eyes met and Escanor's expression had turned from cowering to serious. He was tired of everyone stopping him from reaching his goals and was very antagonized by a pompous member of the goddess clan who thought herself superior to humans. He pointed the sword on her throat and demanded she answer his questions, to her displeasure she was forced to accept. Unfortunately Escanor's mood had tampered with his psychological though and he completely forgot about Diane's request to ask about Matrona. What he asked was much more self-centred.

 **Escanor** : " _What is my purpose?"_ He asked, his aggressive demeanour continued to become more apparent as he stuck the blade closer to her throat.

 **Goddess** : " _In that case… I'll tell you!"_ she said. Without speaking any words Escanor was telepathically given the answer to his purpose and upon learning of this new found objective he could only say one single thing.

 **Escanor** : " _I refuse to do that… if that is my purpose in life then I shall simply deny it and forge my own destiny. I refuse to kill the people you mentioned because they do not deserve such a fate, nor do the remaining clans of Britannia."_ He said, walking off with a large scowl on his face. He could not believe what he has been told he was made for. He was assigned to rid the world of the other races in order for the goddess clan to rule anew? He believed that she was simply toying with his feelings, unaware that this was partially true. It was in his darkest hour he found his purpose, not only did he reject the life he was told to lead he chose to make his decisions and stagger through all of the obstacles in his way. He lowered the blade from the goddess's neck and began swimming back across the lake. He made it to the other side, picked up his rucksack and left the forest, both annoyed and disappointed. He was still carrying the sword that he had pulled from the stone, which he did not want considering it reminded him of his apparent purpose. He was close to the kingdom of Camelot, so he decided to place the sword inside a stone, in a similar manner that he found it, and walked away.

The moon had risen high into the sky by this point and it lit the way for Escanor and some of the surrounding citizens walking amongst the street. He walked past a small barbarian encampment in which he noticed a man, a woman and two small children running around. They were incredibly happy, judging by the smiles upon their faces which created jealousy in Escanor's heart. He had always wanted friends, family and purpose. Having two of those three things he decided to tell Merlin how he felt when he got back to Liones, it was the only thing left for him to do. His daydreams were interrupted when he heard the sound of a small girl screaming. He looked towards the barbarian encampment and one of the children had been taken hostage by a thief, the old Escanor would have continued walking and hoped the situation fixed itself. The new Escanor, whose purpose was his to choose, decided he was going to intervene. The thief could not notice Escanor's presence due to his incredible speed as he smacked on the nape of his neck, rendering the thief unconscious instantaneously. He noticed a small wound on the girl's leg and identified the thief's weapon to be poisoned. He smiled, reassuring her things would be fine as he gathered a few herbs from the nearby forest.

Upon his return he asked the father for some water who was happy to oblige. He ground up the herbs into a small paste and added the water. He had the little girl drink the concoction which he described as an antidote. To the parents surprise the wound heal immediately and the girl awoke from what seemed like a terrible nightmare. Without warning a giantess, whose arm had a distinctive scar upon it came running from the forest. She examined the situation and explained she heard the screams and ran as fast as she could. She glanced down at Escanor and at the happy family, realizing that her tardiness was not an issue. She looked at the Escanor distinctively and said: "Thank you" in a relatively sweet tone. Escanor was no stranger to seeing giants but he swore he recognised this one. He did not want to appear rude so he simply chose to be direct about it.

 **Escanor** : " _Pardon me m'lady, but, what is your name?"_ he asked, politely and in a sophisticated tone.

 **Giantess** : " _My name is Matrona, and you are?"_ she asked, awaiting her answer with great intrigue.

 **Escanor** : " _My name is Escanor!_ " He replied, contented with the answer to her question Matrona continued looking after the little girl with the parents, whilst Escanor left without causing too much of a hassle. He looked into the night sky and smiled to himself. He had been beating himself up internally after realizing he was selfish and chose to ask his own question instead of Diane's, however he now had the answer to that question as well. Surprisingly, things were going his way today and that was a rare thing indeed. He chose not to procrastinate his return to Liones and immediately set out on the road back, he would arrive before sunrise which was always the preferred time to arrive. He left the view of the family almost instantly and Matrona perked her head up.

 **Matrona** : " _Escanor… where have I heard that before?"_ she questioned, seemingly remembering the name, but, not where she knew it from. She did not let it bother her as the family she had come to care deeply for was safe.

* * *

 **Back at Liones:**

The party was a huge success. All of the competitors injured or not were absolutely hammered and enjoying themselves more than they thought possible. Gowther had been acting out, King had become a depressive old man, Diane fell asleep due to overconsumption, Ban had passed out scattered across the capital due to an argument he had with Diane and King, Meliodas remained somewhat sober and continued drinking to his heart's content and Merlin remained inside unwilling to go the party due to her feeling slightly comfortable. She was still pestered by her feelings for Escanor, which she could not seem to hide. Were the poems she read enchanted? Was the rhyming scheme a sort of incantation or was Merlin having legitimate feelings for the Lion's sin of Pride? She remained awake in her magical facility, clutching the fabric of her dress across her heart. She desperately wanted him to return unharmed.

A few hours passed and the entire party had died down. The knights and citizens who were not drunk decided to reward the competitors by assisting in the clean-up, something Meliodas would have done anything to avoid. He himself had also fallen asleep next to Ban's top half and when he awake he noticed the night was still upon them. Rubbing his eyes he started walking towards Ban's lower half and bringing him together. He then placed his hands in a nearby well and washed his face.

 **Meliodas** : " _It's been a while since I actually got drunk!"_ he thought, laughing to himself. His high tolerance to alcohol made it almost impossible for him to get drunk. HE assumed last night was an exception and began waking himself up with a nice cold mug of Bernia Ale. We looked at the kingdom's castle only to see Merlin gazing out of one of the windows. She had remained awake all night waiting for Escanor to return and refused to rest until he had arrived safely. After being put back together, Ban woke up and began yawing very loudly, which woke up Diane and King. Gowther had simply deactivated for the night and had yet to see a reason to come back on. All of the sins looked at each other and nodded in agreement they were all tired and needed some rest. Ban, King and Meliodas left for Liones castle whilst Diane and Gowther returned to Merlin's magical facility. Upon their return Gowther entered the storage room where he could read books at candlelight, whilst Diane went to the recent extension to the facility; a barn where she could fit and sleep. She arrived at her rather spacious home and stretched her arms in order to lessen the strain on her muscles. She kicked off her boots and placed them next to the barn, where she knew nobody would steal them. The pleasant sensation of earth between her toes was an enjoyable one for her, considering she had been wearing her boots all day, taking them off felt incredibly good. She entered the barn and began moving the hay bales around in order to get comfortable. She then noticed two things in her barn; the new clothes king had made for her and a note, which had been delivered by Escanor. Upon reading the note her eyes widened and her mouth began to gape, her eyes teared up and nothing could stop the waterworks from being activated. All it said was: "The answer to your question is 'no', because she isn't dead". Diane went to sleep much happier than she had assumed. The page she was holding became illegible dur to her tears and thus became unusable information once again. She would wake up the next morning having completely forgotten about the question, mainly because her life was always interesting and she did not consider giving the note a second thought.

Sunrise was barely minutes away and Merlin's mood had been slowly declining hour by hour. She finally gave up looking through her window and slowly walked through the hall way, she then noticed Escanor near one of the large trees outside and her expression brightened up immediately. She ran out of the door towards the tree and saw him facing away from her. He turned to face Merlin, who blushed when their eyes met. She tried shaking off her feelings for him, but, they were too overpowering. He slowly walked closer to her and placed her head on his shoulder. Her face was now bright red and her expression had changed from one of happiness to one of shock. She lifted her head and stared at him for a few moments. They were in each other's embrace, mere centimetres away from each other's face. Both the sins looked at each other with an embarrassed stare as the sun began to rise. Merlin felt Escanor's body tense up as his muscles began expanding due to Sunshine's influence. He looked at her more confidently and decided that it was a good a time as any for them to share at least one moment with one another. Both the sins interlocked their lips whilst the sun was rising in the background. A truly magnificent sight only amplified by the two sins sharing their romantic feelings for one another. They ended their majestic kiss and retracted themselves in embarrassment. They looked at each and discussed the idea of keeping their relationship a secret, to which they both agreed. Nobody barring the two involved would ever hear about the events that took place on the 8th morning of the seven deadly competitions, but, that was what made the moment more magical!

 **THE END!**

* * *

Apologies for the tardiness of this chapter, I have been quite busy lately and had very little time to write anything. I recently finished my university semester so I will be posting more often in the months to come, though. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned for more!


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